


Justice | Marvel

by kl4uss



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-17 18:30:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14195097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kl4uss/pseuds/kl4uss
Summary: Amelia Mansfield was a new up and coming lawyer in New York in her very own law firm, M.M.N. Associates with her two best friends, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson. However, with the news of a vigilante named the Devil's of Hell's Kitchen appears, everything Amelia tried to keep hidden comes out. What is Amelia hiding? Who is the vigilante? Nobody is ever safe when they live in the dangerous infested city of Hell's Kitchen.





	1. NEW STORY!

 

_[Amelia](https://imgur.com/a/R7ngz)Mansfield had just graduated Columbia Law School and is now an up and coming lawyer in_

_her very own firm, M.M.N. Associates, with her two best friends, Matt Murdock and_

_Foggy Nelson. Everything in New York is just starting to get back to normal after the alien invasion._

_However, with the news of a vigilante named Devil of Hell's Kitchen appears, everything Amelia_

_had tried to keep hidden suddenly comes out. What is she hiding? Who is the new hero?_

_Nobody is ever safe when they live in the dangerous infested city of Hell's Kitchen._

_You never know who from your past will come popping up._

 

 


	2. CHAPTER 1

The loud sound of her dog barking and the strong voice of Olivia Benson was the first thing the brunette woman, Amelia Mansfield, heard as she woke up from her deep surprisingly dreamless sleep. She let out a lengthy yawn before she huffed as she knew she wasn't going to able to get anymore sleep with her personal alarm clock that came in the form of her three month old Siberian Husky. 

"Give me a minute, Buck," Amelia mumbled to her dog as she threw the covers off of her face and twirled her body to the side, so she was now facing her wooden bedside table. She sighed quietly when she noticed the silver chain that held two rings. One was a greenish blue color that was a family ring from her past life, and the other one was a simple engagement ring from her dead fiance that she had gotten during her tour in Afghanistan over ten years ago.

However, that part of her life was all in the past. She changed her ways four years ago and got her life on a good track, thanks to the one and only Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff. "What time is it?" Amelia questioned out loud as she moved her eyes towards the ceiling instead of looking at the two things that connected her to her old life.

"It is nine twenty five in the morning, Ms. Mansfield," the familiar voice of the artificial intelligence, J.A.R.V.I.S., answered with his calming but loud tone. 

Amelia's green eyes instantly widened at the answer she received before she swiftly threw the covers off of her body and jumped right out of the bed while she exclaimed under her breath, "no, no, no. I can't be late today!"

Amelia had barely shoved her loosely fitted gray shorts down her muscular thighs and slipped on a black knee length pencil skirt before she heard her cell phone ringing loudly throughout her bedroom. Amelia quickly rushed towards her bed while she zipped up her skirt before she grabbed the device and slid right on the touch screen as she already knew who was calling her. "Fog, I swear I'm on my way," Amelia promised as she rushed over to her dresser and slipped on her rose gold Rolex that she had gotten as a graduation present when she had finished Columbia Law School.

"Are you sure about that?" Foggy Nelson questioned with amusement in his voice, "if that is true, then why do I hear the Law and Order theme song and your dog barking?"

Amelia rolled her eyes at the brunette on the phone before she glanced over at her husky, who was staring at her while he barked. The brunette woman sighed lightly before she headed towards the kitchen with her loyal companion following closely behind her. "Alright, I'm a little late," Amelia confessed as she held her cell phone between her right shoulder and ear while she poured food into the small red bowl for her very hungry and spoiled dog.

"I swear, between you and Matt, I don't know how you guys have ever survived life," Foggy commented with a small chuckle.

Once Amelia had fed her dog, Bucky, she fast walked back into her bedroom and made her way towards her large walk-in closet. She took off the blue New York Yankees shirt and switched it for a blue silk blouse. Amelia then tucked the top into her black skirt before she muttered into her cell phone, "I'm not that late, Franklin." She glanced down at her wrist before she continued, "I still have at least twenty-five minutes until we have to meet the realtor."

"Actually, you have five minutes," Foggy corrected the brunette in a guilty voice. "You and I are going to bribe a cop first," he explained before he complained with a groan, "and please don't start calling me Franklin again. You know I hate it."

Amelia ignored her friend's complaining about his name. She had heard it all through law school and she didn't plan on stopping now. Instead, Amelia told Foggy, "Brett is going to kick your ass someday."

"Oh, please," Foggy muttered carelessly before he stated, "that is why I'm bringing you. Brett likes you."

"That's because I don't bring his mom cigars," Amelia corrected Foggy as she slipped a pair of black heels over her feet before she spotted a pink box on the ground. She remembered she had received it yesterday but never got around to opening it. So Amelia grabbed the box off of her carpet and carried it with her as she made her way into the living room. She sat on her couch and placed the box onto the coffee table along with her cell phone after she had placed it on speakerphone.

Amelia then opened the pink box and pulled out a black leather purse, that was surprisingly heavy. She smiled in appreciation as she was used to getting presents lately after graduating law school. However, as she was looking over the purse, a small piece of paper inside the pink box caught her attention. Amelia sat the purse aside before she opened the small note and began to read -

            **I hope you like your gift and good luck on your first day as a lawyer!**

**xoxo P.P.**

Amelia shook her head with a small smile before she opened the purse and noticed that it was filled with everything she would need. A matching leather wallet, a hair brush, a small bag of her favorite makeup, a set of pens, and a couple of notepads. However, Amelia soon noticed that there was something else inside that she didn't recognize. It was a black case. She pulled the case out of her purse and noticed a red and black spider on top that looked very familiar. Amelia then slowly opened the case before she rolled her eyes immediately when she noticed a .45 caliber handgun along with another piece of paper.

                                               **BADASS LAWYER [✓]**

**ALIEN FIGHTER [✓]**

**S.H.I.E.L.D. AGENT [?]**

"AMELIA!" Foggy shouted which caused the brunette to jump out of her thoughts along with almost dropping the loaded weapon. "Did you fall asleep again?" Foggy questioned with annoyance ringing throughout his voice.

"No, I'm on my way, Foggy," Amelia told the brunette lawyer before she quickly pushed the weapon into her purse. She then slipped the black purse over her right shoulder before she jogged out of her large apartment and headed out for the day.

"Well, hurry," Foggy ordered before he exclaimed in a singing voice, "or your favorite lawyer and best friend is going to give your coffee from your favorite shop to the next person I see that just so happens to be right outside your fancy apartment building."

"Oh? Is Matty with you?" Amelia questioned teasingly as she gave an elder woman, Mrs. Jackson, a small wave and a smile before she exited the building and instantly spotted the long haired man, who was holding two coffee cups and a pink bag. 

"I hate you," Foggy told his female friend once Amelia was standing directly in front of him before he ended their pointless call and slipped his cell phone into the pocket of his eighty nine dollar navy blue suit.

Amelia grabbed her caramel macchiato with a shot of espresso from the styrofoam container before she uttered with a cheeky smile, "you know you love me, Fog." She then took a large sip of the one thing that keeps her awake before she pointed her head down to the pink bag and commented teasingly, "I didn't know you were going for a new fashion statement, Franklin. But I like it."

Foggy rolled his eyes before he explained as they began to walk down the busy streets of New York, "it's for Bess."

Amelia shook her head with a small chuckle before she told the brunette man, "if Brett wants to kick your ass this time for giving Mrs. Mahoney cigars, then I'm just going sit back and watch."

"Hey! It's not my fault the woman knows her cigars," Foggy exclaimed as he defended himself before he added, "besides, we need him if we're ever going to get any cases for the firm."

"Speaking of the firm, have you woken sleeping beauty yet?" Amelia wondered. Matt Murdock, the third lawyer in their tight knitted group, was very notorious for being late. Amelia guessed it was because of his loss of sight. However, she swore Matt is faster and has better balance than she and Foggy combined.

The brunette man shook his head as he took his cell phone back out of his suit pocket and stated, "I was just about to do that," before he mumbled, "God knows I have to be the alarm clock for two grown adults."

"Don't act like I've never pulled you away from the bar while you were drunk off your ass and took care of you," Amelia countered with a chuckle before she grabbed Foggy's hand and pressed the speakerphone button before she let go and listened to the dial tone.

Foggy rolled his eyes before he heard the sound of their sleepy best friend mumble out a small hello. "Good morning, sunshine!" Foggy exclaimed obnoxiously loud.

"What time is it?" Matt questioned tiredly from the other end of the phone.

"Half pass get the hell up," Foggy told his fellow lawyer before he ordered, "let's go. We gotta meet the real estate agent in twenty."

The line went dead silent for a moment before there was a distinct sound of someone moaning, and not even a second later, Foggy was in interrogation mode as he fired out questions, "what was that? Was that a moan? Do you have somebody in bed with you?" Foggy then paused as he thought before he continued with the questions like the true lawyer he is, "the paralegal? Is it the para over at, never, I don't want to hear about it." Foggy shook his head before he changed his mind once again and asked like he was apart of a gossip magazine, "no, I do want to hear about it! What was she like?"

"Violent," Matt mumbled tensely.

Foggy shook his head in disbelief before he stated, "I gotta get the blind thing going. It's so unfair."

"Seriously, Fog," Amelia uttered with a small chuckle, "you definitely need new moves if you want to act like your blind to pick up women, my friend."

"A-Amy! H-Hi!" Matt exclaimed embarrassingly that he had listened to Foggy talk on and on about the nonexistent paralegal while the brunette woman was listening to the whole conversation. Matt definitely needed to have a little talk with his male best friend. He felt like an ass.  _She probably thinks I'm a player and bad at sex,_ Matt thought.

"Good morning to you too, Matty," Amelia greeted with a small chuckle.

"As much as I would love to listen to this amazing conversation with an embarrassed Matthew Murdock," Foggy interrupted with a sarcastic tone before he told the aforementioned lawyer, "but we have a cop to bribe."

"Ah, Foggy," Matt trailed off awkwardly when he heard the criminal act in his friend's statement.

"Kidding, NSA, if you're listening," Foggy exclaimed loudly as if the large government company was recording every word he was saying. "But seriously," Foggy continued as he told Matt, "we gotta go bribe a cop."

"Don't worry, Matty. I'll keep him in line," Amelia assured the man on the phone before Foggy swiftly ended the call.

"Keep me in line?" Foggy questioned in disbelief as he slipped his cell phone back into his suit pocket. "Why would I need to be watched?" He wondered as his brows furrowed in confusion.

Amelia rolled her eyes as she questioned right back, "did you not hear what just came out of your mouth, Franklin?" She chuckled before she stated very slowly so Foggy would understand, "you're bribing an office of the law. You know, that thing we swore to abide by."

Foggy only shrugged his shoulders carelessly before he suddenly countered, "well, you are too!" He pointed his finger at Amelia with his eyes narrowed as he continued, "maybe you are the one that needs to be watched."

"I'm not the one bribing with cigars," Amelia stated before she added with a smirk, "I'm just an innocent bystander walking down the street." However, before Foggy could even open his mouth to argue, the brunette woman spotted the police officer that they needed to have a chat with. "Brett," Amelia greeted the brown eyed man with a bright smile. "It's so good to see you again," she expressed once the police officer brought her into a tight hug.

"It has been a while," Brett Mahoney commented before he informed the new lawyer once he greeted her with a small hello, "Mama's been wondering when you'd be coming to dinner again." Out of the three lawyers, Amelia has always been Brett's favorite, despite basically growing up with Franklin "Foggy" Nelson. After Amelia and Brett pulled away from their embrace, the officer faced the male lawyer with a light glare as he uttered boredly, "officer of the law. Defense attorney. We're supposed to be enemies."

"Why don't you ever greet Amelia in this hostile way you got going on right now?" Foggy complained as he pointed his finger between his fellow lawyer and the man he knew from his childhood.

"Amelia doesn't get on my nerves every second of the day like you do, Nelson," Brett told the male lawyer as he crossed his large, muscular, and equally as imitated arms over his chest.

"Good point," Foggy mumbled before he shook his head and stated, "besides, we've been enemies since we were four, Brett, so let's not blame it on career choices." Foggy then got serious as he began to try to convince Brett to help them out as he explained, "also, I'm not a particularly good defense attorney, so helping us is like helping yourself."

Brett glanced over at the brunette woman before he turned back to Foggy with a raised eyebrow as he questioned, "so, are you saying Amy isn't a good defense attorney either, then? Because if you are, I'm going to have to kick your ass like I did on the school yard." Brett had always been protective over Amelia ever since he met her in Josie's four years ago, where they became fast friends.

"Give him the bag. Give him the bag," Amelia told Foggy hurriedly as she knew the police officer was dead serious. She had always been close to the Mahoney family ever since she started law school and became friends with Matt and Foggy, and from there; she started going to Hell's Kitchen frequently and met Brett.

"Oh!" Foggy yelped as his eyes widened before he quickly pushed the pink bag into the police officer's chest and informed him, "these are for Bess!"

The brown eyed officer of the law glanced between the two defense attorneys before he took a quick peek into the pink bag. He shook his head once he realized what it was before he looked up at Foggy and pleaded in annoyance, "please stop giving my mom cigars."

"I told you," Amelia sung teasingly in a small whisper to her fellow lawyer. She knew Brett would have something to say about the cigars, especially since they are for his elder mom.

"What?" Foggy questioned innocently before he told both Amelia and Brett, "she'll outlive us all." Once he realized the police officer wasn't going to hit him for giving his mom cigars, Foggy began his speech he had been preparing all morning, "look, I'm not asking you to do anything immoral. Just give us a heads up if something, you know, interesting walks through the door."

Brett stared at the male lawyer for a moment before he stated irritatedly, "you're right. It ain't the careers."

"Thanks, buddy!" Foggy cheered as he fist pumped in the middle of the New York streets in excitement for their potential first client.

Amelia shook her head with a small chuckle before she pulled the police officer into a hug and praised in a whisper, "thank you for this. I owe you one."

"You can start by coming over tonight for Mama's homemade chili," Brett told the brunette woman with a small smile before he turned around and began to make his way through the busy streets to protect the city.

"How in the world do you do that?" Foggy questioned in astonishment. "You haven't even known him that long!" He complained with a pout.

Amelia shrugged her shoulders lightly as she and Foggy turned around and began to walk down 50th street to the office space they were hoping to rent out. "I'm just a lovable person, Nelson," she explained with a smirk.

"W-What?" Foggy gasped with his eyes widened as he instantly paused in his step along with ignoring all the angry people that walked around him. "I'm a people person!" He shouted before he quickly jogged to catch up with the giggling and equally as amused woman.

* * *

It was another twenty minutes before Amelia Mansfield and Foggy Nelson were welcomed into a gray building by the blonde realtor to look at their potential office space. Amelia already didn't like the woman since she was late when she had specifically told them a few days ago that she would leave if they weren't on time. But Amelia kept her mouth shut as she knew Foggy and Matt really liked the space. 

"You've got a reception area, a conference room and three offices," the realtor told Amelia and Foggy as they slowly moved around the pale green office space. "Corner suite has a view of the Hudson," she added before she turned to face the two lawyers and uttered in amusement, "you can flip a coin to see who gets it."

"Actually, there is thre-" Foggy began to tell the blonde woman but was soon interrupted by the third lawyer in their newly built firm.

"Amelia will be having the corner suite," Matt Murdock stated loudly in an easy tone as he announced his arrival into the room. "I don't need a view and I don't think Foggy will mind," he explained.

Amelia watched in amusement as the realtor's pale face turned bright red before the blonde woman quickly apologized, "I'm so sorry." She shook her head as she tried to fix her mistake, "I didn't mean to-"

A small timid smile rose onto Matt's lips as he interrupted the woman's rambling and uttered politely, "of course not."

The realtor chuckled awkwardly before she decided to start over. "Susan Harris," she introduced herself in a strong and confident voice as she held her hand out to the partner she hadn't had the chance to meet, "Midtown Property Solutions."

The lawyer with the red sunglasses quietly sat his briefcase onto the ground next to his black shoes along with leaning his walking stick against the wall before he also introduced himself, "Matt Murdock."

Amelia walked over to the realtor and whispered into her ear before she moved across the room to stand next to Foggy, "he can't see your hand, sweetie."

Foggy stifled a laugh when he heard what Amelia had said before he told Matt with amusement clearly in his voice, "she just curtsied. It was adorable."

Matt chuckled lightly both at the brunette lawyer he calls his best friend and the nervous realtor before he commented to the blonde woman, "well, it's nice to know chivalry isn't dead." Matt then grabbed his walking stick from the wall and questioned like the polite Catholic boy he was, "Susan, would you mind walking me around the space?"

"Of course," the realtor quickly answered before her nude heels clanked against the plain gray linoleum floors as she made her way towards Matt's side and stated, "it would be my pleasure."

Foggy looked over at Amelia when the blonde woman focused all her attention on Matt before he pointed his fingers to his eyes as he mouthed, "blind."

Amelia rolled her eyes as her friend was trying to prove a point that he needed to try to act blind so he could pick up women. "No skills," Amelia mouthed to the brunette with a smirk which caused Foggy to roll his eyes right back at her.

"As I was telling your associates, the office was barely touched by the incident, which is why it's on the market already," Susan began to tell Matt as she slowly moved around the room with the blind man holding lightly onto her upper arm, "the neighbors weren't so lucky."

Amelia couldn't help the small smirk that rose to her pink lips, since she was apart of 'the incident'. Amelia liked to call it saving New York's ass from aliens and from the trickster, Loki. "Is that what everyone named it?" Amelia wondered curiously as she couldn't help herself, "shouldn't it to be called something more exciting when the Avengers saved us all?"

"You weren't even in the city," Foggy mumbled with an eye roll.

_Oh, how wrong you are, Foggy Nelson,_ Amelia thought as she remembered every second of the destruction of New York while she was in the very center of it. However, Amelia had told Foggy and Matt that she was in Italy for spring break since it all took place during the short holiday they got during law school.

"Well, people in Hell's Kitchen wouldn't exactly call it saving when our city was almost wiped off the map because of what they did," Susan uttered with an attitude.

"I guess you got me there," Amelia uttered in amusement before she focused her green eyes out the window along with Foggy, who had joined her. She knew she shouldn't start anything with the realtor when they have been trying to find a descent office space in Hell's Kitchen for a while now. But it was the truth. When Loki tried to take over Earth, it did almost ruin every single building in Hell's Kitchen. Amelia got lucky, her unofficial adopted brother built a luxurious and advanced apartment building in the city, since she didn't want to move back to Manhattan.

"Owner figuring the delightful view of cranes and scaffolding?" Foggy questioned once he faced the realtor instead of the less than interesting view from the windows. He shook his head and stated, "feels like we're getting pre-incident prices."

"They are a quarter of what they used to be," Susan told the brunette man as she crossed her slim arms over her green and white polka dot blouse. "Hell's Kitchen's on the rebound, Mr. Nelson, and in eighteen months, you won't be able to rent a broom closet at this price," the realtor continued as she tried to convince the group of lawyers.

Amelia didn't enjoy the tone the woman had been using, so she decided to watch her sweat a little bit. She glanced down at her cell phone, like she was reading a message, before she looked up at Susan and stated, "well, you know, that's all good and well. But I just received a text message from Tony Stark, you know Iron Man, and he said a place just opened up that is three hundred less than this place and it just so happens to be Midtown Property's competition."

"U-Uh w-we can knock off three months rent and a hundred off from the recently agreed price," Susan quickly uttered as she flipped nervously through her paper work. She couldn't allow Manhattan Discovery to take another one of her listings. They would go out of business and she would be out of a job!

"Perfect," Amelia praised with a condescending smile. She looked over at her fellow lawyers as she wondered, "so, what will it be, boys?"

"We'll take it," Matt told the realtor with a simple nod of his head while he grabbed a hold of Amelia's arm when she stopped next to him, before the two began to slowly walk out of the corner suite office.

Foggy chuckled awkwardly as he quickly followed after his two fellow lawyers, who appear to have no issue with the building, before he told Susan, "we will talk about it. Because we're not sure we can afford even this palace, unless we make som-"

"What our associate means is that we would love to rent out this lovely space," Amelia told the realtor with a charming smile as she interrupted Foggy and gave him a pointed look. They couldn't mess this up when every other office building in Hell's Kitchen was charging double than what they wanted to pay. Amelia did agree to pay more than half since her adopted brother always made sure she was taken care of and plus the money she had made in her past life, but Matt and Foggy both said it wouldn't be fair to her.

"No!" Foggy quickly yelped as he definitely didn't agree with Matt and Amelia, "we won't even be able to afford this place if we don't make some changes to our current clientele policies."

"Amelia, me, and our partner are having some disagreements over the direction of M.M.N. Associates," Matt stated before he pointed towards himself and Amelia as he explained, "we believe we're here to defend the innocent."

"And I believe the innocent includes everyone not yet convicted of a crime," Foggy emphasized his side before he shot his fellow lawyers a glare as he reminded them, "you know, as the law states."

Matt shrugged his shoulders lightly before he told the blonde realtor, who was in the center of the ranting conversation, "he tends to use fancy terminology."

"And my partners fail to recognize that as defense attorneys, we're never gonna be able to keep the lights on, waiting on a horde of innocent souls to stumble into our loving arms," Foggy stressed with a loud huff. 

"Boys, we can agree to disagree right now, because I'd really like to have one client and we can't do that without an office," Amelia told Matt and Foggy before she turned to face the blonde realtor and clapped her hands as she uttered with a polite smile, "so, where do we need to sign?"

* * *

It was about five and a half hours later before Amelia and her two fellow lawyers were finally finished with moving desks, chairs, and file cabinets into M.M.N. Associates, their very own law firm. Amelia was extremely excited to have her own company with her best friends. It was a nice feeling of normalcy.

"We're finished up here, Ms. Mansfield," a member of the moving company called Manhattan Helpers told Amelia as he knocked on the door of her corner suite office.

Amelia looked up from where she was placing stacks of journals into her desk drawer and spotted Scott, who she had met plenty of times when she used to live at the Stark tower during law school. Tony would always use Manhattan Helpers when he or Pepper were buying and moving things. Amelia grabbed a fifty dollar from her wallet before she handed it to the man as she praised, "thank you so much, Scott."

Scott took the cash silently with the nod of his head before he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way. My boss said there is a package for you inside of the filing cabinet," he informed the brunette lawyer.

Amelia's brows furrowed in confusion as she questioned, "who's it from?" She didn't even know who would put something in her things when she barely hired Manhattan Helpers only a few hours ago.

Scott grabbed a scrunched up piece of paper from the back pocket of his jeans before he read the horribly written note, "boss said it's from a, uh, Mr. Zeppelin."

Amelia mentally rolled her eyes. Of course it would be him. He definitely was obvious with the name Mr. Zeppelin, after the rock and roll band, Led Zeppelin. Amelia focused back on the man in front of her as she gave him a tiny smile and uttered, "thanks again for the help today, Scott."

Scott tipped his old gray hat and stated, "my pleasure," before he turned around and made his way out of the building to his men.

Once the door was closed behind the mover, Amelia went towards her black filing cabinet and opened it, where she noticed a red and black box. She then lifted the lightweight box and carefully sat it onto her desk. Amelia thought about opening the container, but remembered who it was from, so she decided to close her blinds encase something extravagant was inside. 

Amelia slowly lifted the lid of the box once she made sure no one could see inside of her office before she furrowed her brows as she noticed it was just a small crystal globe of the world. Amelia placed the globe onto her desk with a twitch of her head before her finger accidentally pressed onto the top of the globe and not even a second later, a bright blue light began to shine onto the pale green wall.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.?" Amelia whispered as she recognized the bright blue hologram from her time in Manhattan and in her home.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Mansfield," the artificial intelligence greeted the brunette woman in his familiar calming voice.

However, before Amelia had the chance to ask J.A.R.V.I.S. another question, she was soon interrupted by her cell phone ringing inside of her black leather purse. She quickly pulled the device out and answered it as she could already guess who was calling her. "Seriously, a globe, Mr. Zeppelin?" Amelia questioned in amusement as she took a seat at her desk.

"Well, you wouldn't take the Stark phone and I can't install my programming into your office since you made the stupid rule of no one knowing that you know the awesome Tony Stark," the aforementioned man told the woman he saw as a sister.

Amelia sighed before she told Tony, "I want a normal life, you know that. Besides, you already have J.A.R.V.I.S. in my apartment that you built for me so I wouldn't have to live, like you put it, in a rat nested apartment in actual hell."

"Well, that's just stupid," Tony grumbled, "like it's stupid you don't just move back in with me and Pepper. You could get better and important clients!"

"It's Foggy and Matt's home, Tony," Amelia explained before she stated, "anyways, I don't want to be in the news like I would be if I worked in Manhattan." She glanced at her door before she whispered, "I don't need them finding me."

"You don't have to worry about them when you have the whole Avengers by your side," Tony assured the woman before he wondered, "why don't you just tell your nerd friends about you fighting in the great war of New York?" Tony boasted, "I would be bragging."

"You already do, Tony," Amelia told him with a small chuckle before she repeated her reason, "I just want a normal life." Amelia sat in silence for a moment as her fingertips brushed against the fabric of her new leather purse before she told the billionaire, "hey, tell Pepper that I love the purse and could you also tell Natasha to stop trying to recruit me."

"PEPPER! AMELIA LOVES THE PURSE YOU BOUGHT WITH MY MONEY!" Tony shouted to his strawberry blonde girlfriend before he told Amelia, "and you can tell Natasha yourself, because I may or may not have heard that she and a certain guy with one eye will be showing up for a visit soon."

"Jesus," Amelia muttered in annoyance. Ever since the Avengers came together to fight Loki, Director Fury has been trying to get Amelia to become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. again, like she was during law school. However, that wasn't something she wanted to do anymore. Yeah, it was fun and exciting to save the world in a suit that Tony made, but she would rather be in the courtroom saving people that way.

"Language," a familiar voice suddenly spoke which caused Amelia to swiftly look up and noticed that Matt and Foggy were standing in front of her doorway. The brunette then quickly looked over at the globe and sighed in relief once she realized that J.A.R.V.I.S. had shut himself down.

"Listen, I have to go. Thank you for the congratulations, uncle Anthony," Amelia praised falsely as she knew she needed to end the phone call, so Amelia used the code words that she and Tony had came up with when she couldn't talk about certain Avenger things, which happens to be just Tony's full name.

"You are very welcome, young lady," Tony stated loudly with an obvious smirk on his face at the chance to embarrass Amelia, "dammit! I left my teeth in the-"

However, before Tony could finish his sentence, Amelia quickly ended the call. She faced her two best friends once she placed her phone down and apologized, "I'm sorry about that." She waved her hand carelessly as she explained, "it was just my mom's brother. He wanted to congratulate us for the new firm."

Matt nodded his head in understanding as he gave the brunette woman a gentle smile and said, "send my thanks."

"Enough about your old uncle," Foggy exclaimed before his face took shape like an excited toddler on Christmas morning as he asked the one question he had been waiting to ask for hours, "so, do you really have Iron Man's number?"

Amelia rolled her eyes before she uttered sarcastically, "oh, yeah. Totally, Foggy. He's my number one contact." Even though it was the truth, Amelia couldn't let them find out about her secret identity and that Tony Stark is basically her family.

Matt twitched his head to the side as he noted, "your heartbeat didn't rise," before he wondered curiously, "so, you do have Iron Man's number?"

Amelia glared at Matt, even though she knew he couldn't exactly see the look in her eyes. She always hated when he tried to listen to her heartbeat. "Don't use your hearing powers on me, Matthew," Amelia commanded before she told them with a sigh, "I don't have Iron Man's number. I just know how to control my heartbeat because of the Marines."

"WHAT!?" Both Matt and Foggy yelped at the shocking revelation of their best friend.

Amelia mentally cursed herself. She forgot she never told them about how she used to serve in the military. But that was something she wanted to keep in her past, which was connected to the old silver ring that was on the silver chain on her bedside table. Amelia decided she would lie, as bad as she hated to do it.

Amelia waved her hand in the air carelessly before she explained, "when I was getting my bachelor's degree in political science, I got the opportunity to watch and learn from the soldiers on how to be biased and show no emotion during the interview process." It wasn't a total lie, as she did learn that when she was stationed in Afghanistan.

The small office grew silent as Amelia waited impatiently for her best friends to say something - anything. She needed them to believe her or everything she and Tony had tried to keep under wraps would slowly begin to unravel. After another agonizing slow minute passed, Foggy finally spoke in a surprisingly excited tone, "you are so lucky! We are going to crush the court room with you by our side!"

Amelia held the sigh of relief she wanted to let go as she knew Matt was definitely focusing on her reactions right now, even though she told him not to. The Murdock lawyer had always been like that ever since Amelia met him at the beginning of law school.

"We certainly will if we ever get a client," Matt finally stated.

However, before either of the other two lawyers could utter a single word, the sound of a cell phone ringing ran through the small office. The brunette female realized it was her device, so she quickly grabbed it off her desk before she glanced down at the screen. Once she saw who was calling, Amelia gave her best friends a pleased smirk before she answered the call, "please tell you are about to be my savior right now."

The person on the other end of the phone, Brett Mahoney, chuckled wholeheartedly and stated, "I think I just might be," before he explained, "I got a homicide. Female suspect found at the scene. It definitely qualifies as interesting like you wanted."

Amelia nodded her head as she listened before she asked, "have they charged her?"

"Assistant DA hasn't made the call yet," Brett informed the brunette woman about what he had heard about the case.

The Mansfield woman decided that it could be interesting if they haven't even charged their suspect when she was at the scene of the crime. Amelia opened the drawer of her desk and swiftly grabbed a blue notepad and a black pen before she asked the police officer, "what's the name of the lucky gal?"

"Karen Page," Brett responded as he remembered the name of the blonde suspect.

Amelia wrote down the two words before she praised New York's finest with the nickname she had always called Brett since they became friends, "you are the best, Honey."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Brett mumbled before he told the lawyer, "I'll come find you so you can get the rest of the details." However, before Amelia could open her mouth to respond, Brett quickly added, "Mama's chili. Dinner. Tonight," before he swiftly ended the call.

Amelia chuckled lightly at her police officer friend as she knew she would have to show up now since he didn't give her a chance to say no to dinner at the Mahoney house. But she didn't mind. Amelia has always loved Bess. She was a sweet old woman, who always treated Amelia like her own.

The brunette woman then remembered the news she got when she felt the eyes of her friends drilling on the side of her head. Amelia quickly grabbed her notepad, turned it around, and slammed it onto her desk as she told her fellow lawyers, "we just got a client, gentlemen."

It was silent for a moment before Foggy exclaimed in disbelief, "holy shit." He looked into Amelia's green eyes with a large grin as he cheered, "hell yeah!" The whole office was then filled with sounds of excitement as the three lawyers laughed and celebrated that they would be getting their very first client for their newly made law firm of M.M.N. Associates.

* * *

Amelia walked with her head held high as she and her two best friends moved through all of the police officers, who glared at the three defense attorneys, to find their potential client. Amelia learned to act like you are the biggest badass in the room and you will always succeed. Well, really, that was just a thing her college roommate at Columbia would say, but it always made Amelia feel so powerful that she could conquer anything.

The three lawyers walked through the narrow hallway that belonged to the interrogation rooms, where Brett Mahoney easily handed Amelia the police report on the female suspect as he passed them. Amelia quickly slipped the brown folder into her black purse before the three lawyers continued their way down the dark hallway until they reached the interview room that Brett had texted her about; room four.

There outside of interview room four stood a straight edge detective that looked like he hasn't smiled in decades. "Mansfield. Murdock. Nelson," Amelia stated before she pointed her head towards the door with a raised eyebrow like she was waiting for the detective to challenge her.

The detective slowly looked Amelia's body up and down before he finally opened the door and walked through it without a single sound. The female lawyer rolled her eyes once the detective turned his back to them. However, Amelia is used to the looks when she's a strong woman challenging a man. It was just how society works.

"Okay, can we please take the handcuffs off the 110-pound woman?" Foggy questioned the two tall detectives with an annoyed huff once the three lawyers had walked through the metal door and spotted the tiny blonde woman with tears streaming down her pale face.

The emotionless detective, Christian Blake, ignored the brunette man's order as he faced the criminal and questioned, "Miss Page, can you tell me who these people are?"

Amelia slammed her black purse onto the metal table before she told the detective with a glare, "yeah, it's called we're her lawyers."

"Could you please uncuff our client and give us the room," Matt spoke politely while he lightly placed his hand on the lower part of Amelia's back and gave her blouse covered back two taps with his point finger. It was his way to warn her to control her emotions. He always thought she got too emotional with things, but in reality, it was just how Amelia dealt with arrogant men. She didn't serve in the Marines with a squad full of men just to be disrespected by one.

The dark haired detective stared at the blind lawyer for a moment before he grabbed the small silver key from the pocket of his suit. He then undid the tight handcuffs from around the blonde woman's hands that was chained to the ice cold table.

Amelia gave the man, or in her mind - the hard ass, a charming smile and praised, "thank you for your help, detective."

Once the large heavy door buzzed as it closed behind the arrogant detective and his silent partner, Foggy turned to Amelia and whispered as quietly as he could in the small room, "I think we already made an enemy in the police department."

Amelia rolled her eyes as she whispered back, "he's an ass. I was never going to like him." She didn't care that some detective didn't like her and she definitely wasn't going to act fake for that arrogant man.

Matt cleared his throat as he interrupted the conversation between his two best friends, even though Matt was amused by Amelia's attitude towards the detective, who really was an ass in Matt's opinion. "Miss Page, my name is Matt Murdock," he introduced himself before he added, "and these are my associates, Foggy Nelson and Amelia Mansfield." Matt pointed towards the table before questioning, "do you mind if we sit down?"

However, the blonde woman, Karen Page, only stared at the lawyer with glasses over his eyes as warm tears continued to stream down hers. Karen didn't know who to trust after what happened tonight. And now these strangers just suddenly pop up out of nowhere. So, Karen decided to stay silent. If she didn't say anything then she couldn't get into anymore trouble, right?

"She gave a vague shrug," Foggy whispered to Matt before he shrugged his shoulders himself as he commented, "I say we go with it."

The three lawyers decided to go with it, like Foggy suggested, and silently slid into the hard metal chairs across from the blonde suspect before Matt began to speak again, "we understand you're in some trouble. We, uh, may be able to help."

Amelia grabbed the folder Brett had gave her and the blue notepad from her purse along with a black pen before she questioned politely, "Miss Page, could you please explain to us what happened tonight?"

However, when the blonde woman still only stayed silent, Amelia decided to see if her facial expressions would give her away. Luckily, it only took the ex Marine about thirty seconds before she noticed the distrust that shined in the woman's blue eyes. Amelia realized that they needed to earn her trust before they could go any further. 

Amelia gave the blonde woman a gentle smile and explained, "we just want to know your side of the story, so we can see if we can help you." She then opened the police report and found the deceased name. "A one Daniel Fisher was found in your apartment," Amelia told the woman as she started up the conversation to get Karen to open up.

"Who happens to be the victim of a homicide, and currently, you're the only suspect, Miss Page," Matt continued where is fellow lawyer left off as he tried to convince the woman to allow them to help her.

Karen looked between the three people in front of her for a moment before she questioned suspiciously, "who the hell are you guys?"

"We are the people who are trying to keep you from spending the rest of your young life in prison, Miss Page," Amelia told the suspect as she laced her fingers together on top of the police report.

"Who sent you?" Karen fired out another question as she narrowed her blue eyes in wariness.

"No one sent us," Matt answered simply.

"So, what?" Karen questioned in disbelief, "you're just a couple of good Samaritans? And today's just my lucky day?" She didn't believe that someone could just come help her without knowing something or wanting something. That wasn't how Hell's Kitchen worked.

"I bribed the desk sergeant with a box of cigars for his mom," Foggy told the blonde woman proudly. 

"Not something you should admit to someone you want to save from jail time," Amelia muttered to her long haired friend.

"Our practice is relatively young, Miss Page, and we are aggressively pursing new clientele," Matt explained as he noticed Karen was looking between his fellow associates with furrowed brows and they certainly didn't need to get off topic right now. They needed to hear what happened from her. However, Matt couldn't help himself as he told his male best friend, "you really gotta stop giving Bess cigars."

"That's what I keep telling him," Amelia told Matt before she added with a small smirk as she glanced over at Foggy, "Brett is going to kick his ass someday."

"She likes to smoke," Foggy exclaimed as he defended himself, "it's a free country."

"So, how long have you been practicing law?" Karen wondered as her blonde brows furrowed while she tried to keep up with the strange back and forth conversation between the three people that wanted to help her.

Matt stared straight ahead as he thought over the question before he asked his fellow associates in a small whisper, "what time is it?"

Amelia lifted her right hand up and glanced down at the rose gold Rolex on her wrist before she informed Matt, "it's six fifteen p.m."

The Murdock lawyer breathed out a small sigh before he finally answered Karen's question, "about seven hours."

Foggy scoffed before he trailed off, "well, if you go from when we passed the bar."

"I was going from when we got our own desks," Matt explained his reasoning to Foggy.

Foggy nodded his head as he agreed, "oh, then, yeah." He faced the confused Karen and smiled as he reaffirmed, "seven hours."

Karen looked between the two men and the brunette woman in disbelief before she questioned in astonishment, "you've never done this before?"

"If you were to allow us to help you prove your innocence, then yes, you would be lucky number one," Amelia explained with a soft smile. They needed for Karen to want their help, so she would smile and be the sweetest person alive if it got Karen to trust them.

Foggy nodded his head as he added, "technically. Yeah."

"W-Well, I-I don't... I don't have any money," Karen stuttered nervously after she thought everything through while she avoided eye contact for the first time since she met the lawyers. 

Amelia mentally cheered as she knew Karen was warming up to them if the thought of paying for their service was on her mind. However, before Amelia could assure the blonde woman that it wouldn't be a problem right now, Foggy decided to mess that all up.

"Well, it was lovely to meet you, Miss Page," Foggy stated as he began to stand up from the hard chair but was soon stopped by Matt's strong grasp on his wrist.

The Murdock lawyer cleared his throat loudly as he waited to hear the sound of Foggy sitting back down before he assured Karen like Amelia was planning on doing when she was interrupted by their associate, "you don't have any money and we don't have any clients. Maybe we can help each other."

Amelia decided to push it a step further as they needed badly to hear her side of the story if she was going to be their client. Amelia reached over the table and lightly placed her hand over Karen's and spoke softly, "we just want to help you and understand what happened tonight. So, please, could you tell us how you know Mr. Fisher?"

Karen stared into Amelia's green eyes for a moment before she nodded her head once and swallowed thickly as she finally decided she could trust them. "We worked together," Karen answered.

Foggy sighed heavily as he realized his fellow associates wanted to listen to the blonde's case. He then swiped his red notepad from his brown shoulder bag and questioned with the least amount of excitement unlike the emotions he was feeling when they had first received the case from Brett, "and your place of employment?"

"Union Allied Construction," Karen stated before she told her position at the company, "I'm a secretary." She glanced between the three lawyers before she began to explain further into how she knew the man, "Daniel worked downstairs in Legal." She shook her head as she muttered, "I-I d-didn't know him very well. But he was always nice, you know?" Karen paused as she licked her chapped lips before continuing, "but it's hard to meet people in the city, so I asked him if he would have a drink with me."

"You asked him?" Matt questioned as he tried to get the full detail of tonight.

Karen nodded her head before she told the lawyers as her voice broke in sadness, "like I said, he was a nice guy." She took a shaky deep breath before continuing her story about what happened, "we met at the Three Roads bar, on 49th street. We had a few drinks, and the next thing I remember is waking up on the floor of my apartment covered in blood. His blood."

Amelia silently wrote down every detail the blonde woman said into her blue notepad. It would be a difficult case for them, seeing as the deceased was inside Karen's apartment with her covered in his blood. There was just something that Amelia couldn't understand. Why wasn't the police charging her yet when they have the body, the weapon, and the suspect? It just didn't add up.

"I'm not stupid," Karen exclaimed as she slammed her pale hands on the metal table once she noticed the silence and expressions from the lawyers, "I know how that sounds." Karen's blue eyes shifted between the three people in front of her as she pleaded her case as tears streamed down her face, "but I'm telling you, we met at the bar. We had a few drinks. And I don't know what happened after that. It wasn't me." Karen begged desperately as sobs left her body, "please. Please, you have to believe me. I didn't kill him."

Amelia and Foggy silently shared looks between each other before their fellow lawyer voiced exactly what Amelia was thinking, "I believe you, Miss Page."

Amelia knew that Matt did what she hated, he listened to Karen's heartbeat to see if she was telling the truth. She knew it was a good tactic for a lawyer, but in Amelia's experience, it wasn't always reliable like in her case. However, Amelia just had this gut instinct that this woman wasn't lying.

* * *

The three best friends and lawyers were relaxing inside of Matt's small office after they were kicked out of the interview room by Mr. Hard Ass as their time had expired for the night with their client. It had been an exhausting day for all three lawyers, which caused for ties to be loosened and heels thrown off as they all thought over their very first case. 

"I'm friends with Gary Feinstein in the DA's office," Foggy told his fellow associates as he spoke up for the first time since they've been in their office building while he tossed his childhood baseball up in the air as he walked around the room, "I'll give him a call first thing in the morning to see where their heads are at." Foggy shrugged his shoulders as he thought out loud, "I'm guessing they're gonna puff out their chests, but they have to know murder two's a risk." He then turned towards Amelia and Matt as he predicted what will happen, "we end up at manslaughter, we get the right judge, maybe she's out in five to ten."

Amelia shook her head and stated, "we're not taking a deal." There was no way Karen did it. Amelia knew liars and criminals, but that wasn't who Karen was. The only thing she was guilty of was of being scared and afraid of something or someone.

Foggy groaned loudly and mumbled, "no," before he explained to the female lawyer, who was sitting on top of Matt's desk with the aforementioned man standing to the side of her with his hands settled on his hips, "this is why they have deals, Melia. So, the straightforward cases don't waste everybody's time."

Matt shook his head before he told Foggy, "I agree with Amy. I don't think she did it."

Foggy looked at the other two people in the room like they were completely crazy. What was there to think about when everything was laid out in front of them? "She's the soul suspect," Foggy stated as he began to explain his reasoning for wanting to take whatever deal the DA suggests, "she was found at the scene, covered in blood, with the murder weapon and no defensive wounds." He chuckled lightly before he uttered, "if they offer anything it'll be a gift, and we will take that gift. We do not want this to go to trial."

Matt lifted a finger to prove his point as he told Foggy, "they don't want this to go to trial either."

Amelia nodded her head before she expressed what she had been thinking since they found out about the case, "something sketchy is going on. It should be an open and shut case." She rose an eyebrow at Foggy as she questioned, "so, why haven't they charged her with all the evidence they have?"

Foggy rose his arms in the air as he shrugged his shoulders before he guessed what was taking so long for the police to close the case, "they have twenty-four hours. Plus, it's the weekend. They're gonna take every last second to collect the evidence before they move."

"They've got the evidence," Matt argued, "you just laid it out yourself." He shook his head and stated, "this is a good arrest, Foggy. We should already be reading it in the papers. There's something not right about this case. I can feel it."

Foggy instantly stopped tossing the baseball in the air when he heard Matt's choice of words. He then turned to the male and deadpanned, "you can feel it?" Foggy sighed before he uttered, "alright, I'm just gonna say this once, and we can move on." He paused as he waited for any objections before Foggy told Matt, "you don't necessarily show the best judgment when beautiful women are involved."

"How would I even know if she's a beautiful woman?" Matt questioned amusingly.

Foggy shrugged his shoulders as he responded, "I don't know. It's kinda spooky, actually. But if there's a stunning woman with questionable character in the room, Matt Murdock's gonna find her and Foggy Nelson is gonna suffer."

"And what about Amelia Mansfield?" The aforementioned brunette questioned as she rose an eyebrow at her ranting friend.

Foggy furrowed his brows as he thought for a moment before he snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "obviously you are just as bad as Matt over here! Every time you walk into a room, men swoon after you!"

Matt shrugged his shoulders as he agreed with his male best friend tensely, "he's not wrong." Matt had noticed that plenty of times when Amelia walked into a room by the fast heartbeats of men.

Amelia shook her head with a chuckle before she uttered with a cheeky grin, "it's not my fault men can't help but fall for my charm."

Foggy rolled his eyes at Amelia and her cocky attitude before he turned to Matt and praised, "thank you! At least someone gets it!"

"But," Matt announced as he interrupted Foggy's gratification, "I need you to back Amelia and I, anyways."

"Ugh, fine," Foggy groaned as he decided to just agree with his two fellow lawyers. There was no way to get around them. He always hated when they agreed with each other, because he would never win when they did. "Alright, fine. Let's start with the obvious, then," Foggy began as he went through the case in his head so they could plead Karen's innocence, "if she didn't do it, then who did?" He shook his head with a sigh before he stated, "we're dead in the water if we don't give them an alternative."

Matt nodded his head and muttered, "agreed."

"We need to take another run at our client," Foggy declared, "she may not be guilty, guys, but that doesn't mean Miss Page is telling the truth."

Amelia nodded her head and stated, "that's what I've been thinking," before she stood up and slipped her black heels over her feet and added, "but that is going to have to wait until the morning." She brushed her skirt down and explained, "it's late, guys and I have a bowl of Mrs. Mahoney's chili with my name on it."

"I should be the one getting homemade chili," Foggy grumbled as the three lawyers exited Matt's office and headed towards the receptionist area before he added in annoyance, "I'm the one that brings her cigars."

Amelia chuckled as she placed her leather purse over her shoulder before the three lawyers began to slowly exit M.M.N. Associates. "I'm just a lovable person, Nelson," she repeated what she had said this morning before she promised, "but I'll bring you a bowl in the morning, you big baby."

"You better," Foggy grumbled as they reached the dark streets of Hell's Kitchen. "I'll be waiting and dreaming of the chili while I drink my sorrows," Foggy joked before he waved goodbye to Amelia and Matt and then began to make his way down the street to their favorite bar, Josie's.

"Don't get too drunk!" Amelia shouted to the brunette man with a chuckle before she and Matt began to walk in a comfortable silence the opposite way to Matt's apartment which was the same way to Amelia's next destination.

"Do you want me to walk you to the Mahoney's?" Matt questioned softly after a couple of minutes had passed as they grew closer to his apartment building.

Amelia shook her head and stated, "no, it's okay. It's not that far anyways. Just a couple of blocks."

Matt lightly grabbed onto Amelia's arm as he pulled her to a stop before he confessed, "I don't like you walking down the streets alone at night. You know how dangerous it can be."

"I'll be fine, Matty," Amelia told her friend with a small smile. If only Matt knew she could protect herself from anyone that was thrown at her. But Amelia would rather keep that a secret as long as she could. Instead, Amelia just mentioned something Matt already knew, "besides, I've learned how to handle my own when I did that short program in the military."

Matt stared in Amelia's direction as his dark brows furrowed slightly before he muttered, "alright. But give me a call when you get there."

"I promise, you worrywart," Amelia chuckled before she pulled Matt into a tight hug and whispered, "good night, Matty."

"Be careful, Amy," Matt ordered as he squeezed her waist before he turned around and headed towards his apartment building with the sound of his walking stick slapping against the concrete sidewalk.

Amelia waited until she couldn't see Matt anymore, before she began to make her way towards the Mahoney house for dinner. She and Matt always had this close friendship, that most people would think was more than friends. But that was far from the truth. Amelia and Matt always been best friends since freshmen year of Columbia Law School - along with Foggy. Besides, Amelia would never take the chance to see if there's more between them when she was hiding things about herself. She didn't want Matt to end up hurt because of her past.

* * *

Amelia pressed her right thumb on the small touch pad that was right underneath the doorknob of her apartment door, that Tony had installed because the apartment building was always being broken into since it was in Hell's Kitchen, before she entered with a tired sigh. Amelia was pretty exhausted from her first day as an official lawyer, but the dinner with the Mahoney's definitely helped. She always loved Bess' home cooking. They made Amelia feel like she had a real home and a family.

Amelia made her way through her dark apartment and headed into the kitchen before she quietly found the refrigerator and placed Foggy's chili beside a half full jug of milk. However, as Amelia closed the door to the appliance, she soon realized she hadn't heard a single sound of Bucky's usual barking.

Amelia's body automatically went into soldier mode as she silently placed her black purse on the ground by her feet and slipped out of her black heels before she grabbed the loaded and already cocked gun from the hiding place by her sink. She then swiftly twirled her body around and pointed the weapon straight ahead, where she now noticed two shapes sitting at her kitchen table along with the shadow of her dog in one their laps.

"I know you ain't about to fire that gun, Ms. Mansfield," a strong but familiar voice ran loudly through the very dark apartment.

"What the hell," Amelia muttered while she rolled her eyes as knew only one person that voice could belong to. "Lights," Amelia told J.A.R.V.I.S. and pointed the gun towards the ground with a slacked arm. Once the lights shined through the apartment, Amelia could finally see the faces of her close friend, Natasha Romanoff and the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury with her three month old husky in his hands.

Amelia placed the black handgun onto her kitchen table before she questioned, "do you know I have a secure keypad on my door?" She glanced between Natasha and Fury with a raised eyebrow as she stated, "it means you don't break in."

The woman with the short orange hair shrugged her shoulders easily and said, "you should know by now that none of Stark's electronics will stop a spy." Natasha stared into Amelia's green eyes with seriousness in her own before she busted out laughing. She then jumped up from the black chair and rounded the table before she pulled the smiling Amelia into a hug. "It's so good to see you," she mumbled truthfully.

"You too," Amelia muttered into the hug. She hadn't seen the spy since the Avengers came together to protect Earth over six months ago. Once Amelia pulled away, she glanced between Fury and Natasha before she questioned, "so, what are you guys doing here?"

Nick Fury only unfolded his leather coat covered arms and pulled out a black and blue file folder from his coat and placed it onto Amelia's table along with a blue pen without a single word.

Amelia rose an eyebrow at the director, but when she only got silence from the emotionless Fury and a smirk from Natasha, Amelia opened the file and began to read. However, she only read about two sentences before she closed the file and uttered simply, "no."

Nick Fury glared slightly at the brunette woman as he interrogated, "and why the hell not?"

Amelia rolled her eyes as she responded with the same answer she had been using for about less than a year, "because I'm done being a vigilante, superhero, spy, assassin, or whatever you want to call it. I'd rather help in the courtroom."

"Cut the bullshit," Nick Fury commanded, "come to D.C. and be an agent like you were before you decided to join the damn law."

Amelia rolled her eyes in annoyance once more before she compromised, "listen, I was with the agency all through law school. You knew once I graduated I was done. However, I will come back if the world ever needs the Avengers again. I can promise you that."

"Fine," Nick Fury snarled and grabbed the file from the table like has done for months before he made his way towards the front door. "If you ever change your stubborn ass mind, the door is always open for Sergeant Viper," he told Amelia before he slammed the door behind him. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. could crack the toughest agents but Amelia was one he could never get to join the agency again, which pissed him off every single time. But he would settle for a part time agent, as he still has Natasha and The Captain.

"Who pissed him off?" Amelia questioned in amusement as she walked into her kitchen with her husky following along and Natasha's combat boots slamming against the title floor.

"You," Natasha muttered with a small chuckle. "You know how he is. He hates when he doesn't get his way." She shrugged her shoulders and commented, "I'm pretty sure if you were anybody else, he would kill you himself."

Amelia couldn't help but laugh as she knew that was the truth. Nick Fury could get as mad as he wanted with her, but that was as far as it would go. Amelia didn't know if it was because she was a good agent or because he knew she would always come back. It was just who Amelia was. Once a soldier, always a soldier.

Amelia reached under her cabinet and pulled out the bottle of alcohol she and Natasha always drank when they got together; Russian vodka. "How about a drink before the road?" Amelia questioned with a smirk as she knew Natasha never could say no.

"What the hell, Amelia. I've been here for over two hours waiting and you had this baby stashed," Natasha exclaimed teasingly before she grabbed a glass from the counter, poured it half way of the clear liquid, before she swiftly downed it. "Oh, damn," Natasha moaned before she uttered, "I really wish you would just come along. It could be fun. You, me, and Cap."

Amelia groaned as she stated, "I'm not going back, Tasha." She just wanted a life of normalcy. All her life she had been a soldier of her father, a soldier of the military, and a soldier of S.H.I.E.L.D. She wanted to be just a boring ole lawyer.

Natasha shrugged her shoulders as she uttered, "can't say I didn't try." She poured herself another drink before she sighed, "I should be going. We got a big mission in Washington. Hostages at Lemurian Star."

"Please don't give me any details," Amelia begged as she knew she would fall right back into the agency. She was born to serve, so she always hated saying no to a cause.

Natasha chuckled as she uttered, "alright, alright. I'm done. I know you want a normal life. I've tried plenty of times." She placed her hand on Amelia's shoulder as she told her, "but there's no getting out of this for people like us."

Amelia gave Natasha a small sad smile, "yeah, I know." She shook her head and uttered, "but right now, that's what I'm doing." The two women walked to the front door before Amelia pulled her friend into a hug and ordered, "call me when you get back in New York."

"I will," Natasha told Amelia once she pulled away from the hug.

"And call me if you need any help with the mission," Amelia added.

Natasha shook her head with a chuckle and stated, "yeah, no. Being an agent is like a drug, you can never get enough." Natasha gave the brunette woman a smile as she continued, "so, no. I'm not giving you a call. I think we can handle a mission without you."

Amelia pouted before she stated, "yeah, you're right. Besides, I'm a lawyer now." She gave her friend one last smile as told the spy, "tell Steve I said hi."

Natasha smirked, "I will," and ordered, "don't cause too much trouble while I'm gone," before she headed out of the apartment for the last time for a while and quickly went to catch her ride to Washington, D.C. with Director Fury.

Amelia waited until she couldn't see her spy friend anymore before she silently closed the door to her apartment and headed towards her bedroom with her husky following quickly behind her. Amelia was too tired to even shower, so she just slipped out of her pencil skirt and fell onto her bed with a tired huff.

She closed her eyes for a second before she heard the scratching of her dog on her silk sheets. Amelia chuckled before she turned on her side and picked Bucky up, which caused the dog to swiftly snuggle up to Amelia's side. "I know, buddy, I'm tired too," she muttered with a yawn. It only took the lawyer about two minutes before she was snoring softly as the thought of her first client was on her mind. 

The life of a lawyer was very tiring and new for the brunette woman. It was different from being a soldier or an agent but Amelia liked the idea of a simple life. But how long would her life stay simple?

* * *

_I'm not sure who Amelia will be with. It will either be Matt Murdock, Frank Castle, or Billy Russo. So, while the story continues, please let me know!_

_xoxo_


	3. CHAPTER 2

Amelia Mansfield stormed into the police station with her two fellow lawyers only a couple of steps behind while everyone else in New York was still trying to wake up from their weekend hangover. The brunette woman couldn't believe the phone call she had received this morning when she was walking Bucky down the street for his morning walk. Amelia's close friend and police Sergeant, Brett Mahoney, had told Amelia that while M.M.N. Associates's client was supposed to be safety asleep in her cell, she was attacked by a man that just so happens to work for the police department.

Amelia was furious with how Karen Page was treated in the custody of New York's finest. That was the one place where she was supposed to feel the most safest. But no, the blonde was almost murdered in her sleep while clueless police officers were only feet away. Amelia definitely knew now that this case was way more important than they had originally thought. She guessed her and Matt's theory was right; that something or someone else was involved in the supposed simple murder case. 

"Detectives, I'm going to make this real simple," Amelia exclaimed as she, Foggy, and Matt walked into the same stuffy interrogation room that they were in yesterday, which also held the same two detectives; the hard ass and the silent partner. "You are going to release our client before I accidentally tell my good friend, Nora, that works at New York Times about our sweet and kind client and how she was nearly killed in the custody of the police." Amelia twitched her head to the side with amusement written all over her face as she commented, "I think her story will be front page worthy."

"And I'll agree not to make cooing noises for the rest of this meeting when I think of the civil suit that we have on our hands," Foggy added to what Amelia had said as he gave the two detectives a condescending grin.

Detective Hard Ass as Amelia liked to call him, or Detective Blake, crossed his arms over his black tie with absolutely no emotion on his face like he wasn't even bothered by the threats from the two lawyers. "How do you know they're not charging her?" He questioned as he barely lifted up one of his dark eyebrows. 

"Besides the fact that you were required to do so four hours ago if you were gonna do it at all?" Matt stated in a form of a question as he stared straight ahead which just so happens to be in the direction of Detective Blake.

"That's an excellent question," Foggy commented before he added to the reason why the police should release their client, "along with how the security cameras on Miss Page's detention area went on the fritz right before the assault."

"That's some coincidence," Amelia tsked as she slowly shook her head. She then linked her hands together on top of the cold metal table while she glanced between the two detectives before she finally spoke as she began to request, "we'd love to have a little chat with Mr. Farnum about that as well as -"

However, before Amelia could finish even getting the request out of her mouth, she was soon rudely interrupted by the silent partner, Detective Hoffman, as he barked out, "get in line," before he informed the defense attorneys in a calmer voice, "he'll be arraigned tomorrow morning."

"Get our client released," Matt demanded in a strong voice as he didn't see why Karen Page was still in the police custody and why there were even still talking about it. There was no way around it if the police department didn't want a huge law suit on their hands. 

The small gray room soon grew silent as the two detectives whispered back and forth with each other before Detective Blake told the group of lawyers with a small nod of his head, "I'll call the ADA." He then swiftly stood up from the metal chair and leaned over the table until he was right in front of Matt's face and threatened, "but you take that tone with me again, I don't care if you're blind, I'll kick the shit out of you."

The Mansfield lawyer instantly stood up from her own metal chair at the threat towards one of her closest friends as she glared down at the bent over arrogant man before her expression swiftly changed into one of a large smirk as she uttered sweetly, "have a good day, gentlemen."

It took a couple of long minutes before the heavy metal door closed behind the two detectives as the hard ass kept glaring at all three defense attorneys. The long haired man, Foggy, breathed out a loud scoff as soon as the room was overcome by silence before he mumbled sarcastically, "well, that was pleasant."

There was barely a beat that went by once Foggy had closed his mouth before Matt Murdock exclaimed quietly, "it doesn't make any sense." He shook his head before he explained, "the ADA had everything they needed." Matt then paused for a moment, so he could think about their case before he murmured as he slowly stood up from the metal table, "unless they have too much."

"What?" Foggy questioned with his brows furrowed deeply as he quickly scrambled to get his brown side bag along with clumsily getting up from the uncomfortable chair as he tried to keep up with Amelia and Matt. "What am I missing?" He hurriedly questioned as jogged up to their side as they exited the interrogation room.

Amelia bit down on her bottom lip as she thought everything over before she suggested to what Matt was saying, "maybe someone else was there." She paused in her step as she turned and faced her two fellow lawyers and added, "it's possible they could have evidence that supports that someone else was in Karen's apartment."

Foggy quickly shook his head as he disagreed. "That's Brady material," he stated as his mind went straight to the education he learned in the past three years at Columbia Law School, "they'd have to turn that over."

"Only if she was charged," Matt corrected the male lawyer. "If Karen hangs herself in her cell," he told Foggy as he used the current situation their client was in as an example before he explained in the simplest of words, "then it all goes away."

A chill instantly ran up Foggy's spine at the very thought of the people that works for the law would do such a thing. "Let's get her some clothes and get the hell out of here," Foggy hurriedly exclaimed as it felt wrong being in this very building since the officers almost allowed for their client to get murdered.

Amelia patted her black purse as she told her fellow lawyers, "I got it covered," before she exited the long silent interrogation hallway and made her way towards the detention area. Amelia had brought a set of clothes with her as she knew without a single doubt that they would be able to get Karen out of jail thanks to what happened here last night. 

"Hi, Connie," Amelia greeted the woman who's in charge of who gets to enter and exit the detention area. The defense attorney signed her name on the fifth slot on the log-in clipboard before she told Connie, "I'm here to get a Miss Karen Page. The ADA should be sending in the paperwork soon."

The woman with the curly salt and pepper hair silently nodded her head before she turned to her old desktop computer. She then slowly began to type the aforementioned name before she told Amelia as she handed her a set of keys, "cell eleven."

"Thank you," Amelia uttered politely as she held the cold keys closely before she headed down the long hallway that was filled with cells on each side. The brunette woman ignored all of the hollering and whistling she got from the men before she finally found the correct cell. Amelia then unlocked the door with the right key and spoke towards the pacing blonde, "I'm here to rescue you, Miss Page."

Karen swiftly turned around at the new voice in the room before she sighed thankfully when she spotted a familiar face that she was beginning to trust. "I get to leave?" She questioned in a whisper as she rubbed her hand up and down her pale arm.

"Yes, ma'am," Amelia uttered with a soft smile before she opened up her black leather purse. "I brought you a change of clothes," she informed the blonde woman before she took a quick glance to the standard grey jail uniform on Karen's body and stated, "I don't think you want to walk down the streets in that." The brunette lawyer then focused back onto her purse before she finally pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a light blue sweater. "We're basically the same size, so they should fit," she commented as she handed over the clothes to the blonde woman.

"Thanks," Karen mumbled in a whisper before she moved to the corner of the small cell and slowly began to change out of the itchy uniform she had been wearing.

"It's my job," Amelia told the blonde woman in a gentle voice as she stood in front of the opened cell until she heard Karen clear her throat. Amelia took that as a sign she was finished changing, so she turned around while she pulled out a pair of black and white sneakers from her purse before she handed them over to the now free woman.

Once Karen had slipped the shoes over her feet and stood up straight, Amelia lightly placed her hand onto the blonde woman's back and directed her out of the cell. "You'll be in good hands with us," Amelia promised as they made their way down the end of the hallway, where Amelia handed the keys over to Connie with the same polite smile she had greeted her with before the two women walked out of the detention area for hopefully the last time.

* * *

The sun had disappeared and the moon was lighting up the city of Hell's Kitchen by the time Amelia and Karen had finally exited the police station and made their way inside of the old building that held the company of M.M.N. Associates. It took so long thanks to the ADA taking their slow time to get the paper work sent over to the detectives before they could officially release their blonde suspect into Amelia's custody.

Amelia made sure Karen was comfortable once they had joined Matt and Foggy in their newly furnished conference room as the brunette lawyer pulled out a black leather rolling chair for their client. Amelia didn't even remember Matt or Foggy setting up the room. She guessed Tony had something to do with it. But, of course, Amelia would have to take credit so her friends didn't look into the fact that her famous adoptive brother, who happens to be Iron Man, basically gave them thousands of dollars worth of new furniture.

The dark room had been overcome by silence ever since Amelia had brought their client up to their floor before it was finally interrupted by the long haired man, Foggy, as he placed a navy blue ceramic tea cup onto the glass table in front of the emotional blonde. Foggy gave her a small smile as he told her in a gentle voice, "I couldn't find any milk. I hope it's okay."

"We have tea now?" Matt inquired as he took an unpacked box off of the cold table and placed it in the corner of the conference room before he felt the leather furniture and took a seat in the surprisingly comfortable rolling chair.

Foggy chuckled awkwardly before he murmured, "I stole it from the financial office next door," as he took a seat in the chair next to the man he was answering.

Amelia rolled her hazel eyes as she took a seat next to the blonde woman before she looked across at Foggy with an amused expression and told him in a teasingly voice, "of course you did, Franklin."

Matt ignored the joking between his two fellow lawyers and best friends as he looked in the direction of the fast beating heartbeat that just happens to be Karen Page's direction as he questioned softly, "how are you holding up?"

Karen ran her fingertip over the rim of the warm tea cup as she muttered simply, "better." She then glanced up as she looked between the three lawyers with a kind look in her sad blue eyes as she stated truthfully, "thanks for getting me out."

"Don't thank us just yet," Foggy told the blonde woman before he quickly explained as he didn't want to worry her too much, "they could still bring charges against you even though they released you."

Matt cleared his throat to get the attention of the blonde woman before he added to what Foggy had said in a serious and professional tone, "which means it's crucial you don't speak to anyone other than the three of us about what happened."

Karen stared at Matt for a silent moment as she studied his calm features before she looked back down to her warm tea that helped with the cold wind of New York. "I don't have anyone to talk to, anyway," Karen told the lawyers in a small voice as if she was embarrassed by her statement.

Amelia leaned the side of her head into her palm as her hand was placed onto the glass table while she looked in Karen's direction with soft hazel eyes. "Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?" She gently questioned as she felt bad for the blonde woman. It's not an everyday occurrence for people that someone tries to frame them for murder when they have no support system. Well, not for normal people, anyway, unlike Amelia who had gone through that a few times in her life.

"My apartment's not far from here," Karen told Amelia has she took a quick glance over to the brunette before her blue eyes went right back to the navy tea cup as she watched the pale brown liquid slowly swirl around.

Foggy quickly shook his head before he informed Karen, "you can't go back there."

When the blonde woman began to look at them in confusion, Amelia lightly placed her hand on top of Karen's as she explained as softly as she could without causing the blonde anymore pain, "your apartment is a crime scene. Plus, whoever is after you will be coming back to try and finish the job."

Matt silently nodded his head as he agreed with Amelia before he told their client, "Miss Page, our immediate priority is to keep you safe." He then cleared his throat as he rubbed his hands together before he continued, "and in order to do that, we're gonna need to have a frank discussion."

Karen glanced between the three lawyer's serious expressions before she murmured, "okay."

"Do you know who's trying to kill you?" The Murdock lawyer questioned as he got straight to the point.

Karen slowly shook her head before she looked down to her now cold tea and mumbled out a quiet response, "no."

Amelia swiftly opened up her black leather purse as the interrogation began and pulled out a blue pen along with a small notebook before she began to write about how Karen didn't know the person who was trying to kill her as they needed to remember every detail if they were going to make sure Karen wouldn't get any jail time. "Do you know why they're trying to kill you?" Amelia questioned once she looked up from her notebook and looked over to their client.

The blonde woman stayed silent for a moment as many thoughts ran through her mind before she finally answered without hesitation and complete confidence, "yes."

Foggy leaned across the table and pressed the small  _'play'_ button on the black Sony recording machine as they were finally getting somewhere. He gave Karen a small nod once Foggy heard the hum of the device as to tell her to continue before the conference room was overcome by silence as they waited for the blonde woman to tell her side.

Karen picked at her fingernails before she awkwardly cleared her throat and began to tell them the whole story like she had planned to do at the police station last night before they were interrupted by the two detectives, "I, uh, work -" Karen then swiftly shook her head before she corrected herself, "worked in the financial department at Union Allied." She pushed her messy blonde hair behind her right ear as she added, "they're overseeing the bulk of the government contracts for the West Side reconstruction."

Foggy nodded his head as he listened carefully and wrote small notes on his notepad before he commented, "I've seen their signs all over Hell's Kitchen."

Karen licked her pale chapped lips and swallowed thickly before she continued to speak about her now previous employer, "the last year have transformed the business." She then listed off some things she had seen in the past twelve months, "there's new owners, new grants, new contracts."

Amelia silently wrote down  _'Alien invasion = U.A. work,'_ as she and the Avengers were the main reason for the big jobs the company Karen used to work for had been dealing with. "The world watched one of the largest cities in the world being ruined. They're is gonna be a lot of people that want to help," Amelia commented as she understood why Union Allied was getting lots of revenue for business and, of course, money.

"And Union Allied benefited from every dollar of it," Karen muttered under her breath as she was thinking exactly what the female lawyer was. "I was the secretary for the chief accountant," Karen stated as she continued to inform them of the people that were involved in the center of her case, "and one of my jobs was to coordinate the pension claims for the company."

The conference room and the recording machine grew silent once again for a couple of minutes before Karen picked up on her story as she explained, "about a week ago, I was emailed a file called;  _Pension Master."_ Karen shook her head before she commented nervously, "it must have been meant for my boss, but I made the mistake of opening it."

"I'm guessing it wasn't the pension fund," Matt suggested as he could tell by the tone of voice the blonde woman was using that held only disgust and fear.

Karen bit down on her bottom lip before she muttered in disbelief, "it wasn't the size of the pension fund. I couldn't believe the numbers. But it was still being designated as company pension." The blonde woman crossed her arms over her chest as she hugged the blue sweater closely before she explained, "it was constantly being adjusted. Money coming in and money going out."

Foggy lifted his head up from his notepad along with stopping the movement of his pen as he questioned with his brows furrowed, "going where?"

"I don't know," Karen whispered tiredly as she stared down at the glass table in front of her and down at the white and black sneakers on her feet. "It was coded routing numbers," she stated as that was the only thing she knew about the _'Pension Master'_ , "but we are talking a lot of money."

"What did you do with the file?" Matt interrogated as each answer they got only led to confused expressions and more questions.

"Well, I told my boss, Mr. McClintock about it," Karen answered Matt's question before she explained, "but he just laughed it off. He said that it was a theoretical model that they were screwing around with." Karen shook her head as she ran her fingers through her blonde hair before she muttered, "I knew something was wrong." She glanced between the three lawyers as she defended herself, "I thought it was just him, you know? Embezzling or whatever."

Amelia flipped through her notebook once their client was finished talking about Union Allied and went to the page that was designated on the man who died in Karen's apartment. "So, how does Daniel Fisher fit into all of this?" Amelia questioned as she hadn't heard the man's name in any of Karen's story.

Karen's calm breathing came out shaky and erratic as soon as the name came out Amelia's mouth as she hadn't thought about him since she was almost killed in her sleep. The blonde woman squeezed her blue eyes shut for a moment before she finally responded, "Danny worked in the legal department." 

Karen glanced over to the woman who had asked her the question with the smallest smile she could muster before she stated, "I didn't know him very well. But he was nice, so I asked him to meet me after work." Karen's blue eyes went back to her cold tea as she muttered, "I don't know how they knew. They must have people watching me. They must have people everywhere."

The blonde woman glanced back up to the three lawyers that were trying to help her as she told them in conclusion, "all I did was ask him for a drink and I start to tell him about what I found. But then things got blurry, like I was drugged. And the next thing I know, I'm waking up back in my apartment, covered in blood."

Karen's breathing swiftly got erratic once again as her heart began to pound painfully against her chest. "They killed him because of me," she whispered as tears clouded her blue eyes, "he had a family. A little boy."

However, without any warning, the blonde woman swiftly jumped up from the rolling chair and exclaimed hurriedly, "I need to get out of here." Karen only gave the lawyers a quick glance as she apologized, "I'm sorry," before she went to rush away from them.

At the fast movement of the blonde woman, Foggy quickly got up from his chair and stood in front of the door of the conference room. "We can't advise that, Miss Page," he stated as he gently placed his warm hands onto her shoulders as he hoped it would calm down their client.

"No, you don't understand," Karen cried out as she swiped the tears from her face. "Either you're with them or you're not," she emotionally stated, "and if you're with them, then I'm dead already." Karen shook her head as she quickly added before she got choked up, "and if you're not, then I cannot have anybody else die because of me."

Amelia stood up from her seat and leaned against the glass table as she stared at the blonde woman with sorrow in her hazel eyes. She shook her head as she told Karen, "we can protect ourselves. You are the one that needs to be protected, and we can help you."

Karen stayed in her position in front of Foggy as she only stared at the ground and mumbled slowly and tiredly, "no, you can't. Not from them."

"Miss Page," Foggy began as he tried to assure the woman that she was safe, however he was soon interrupted by the aforementioned woman as she whispered out a quiet, "no."

Amelia folded her arms across her chest as she watched the emotional woman. She shook her head and told Karen, "we can't advise you to go back to your apartment. It's just not safe." Amelia just had this bad feeling that something will happen if she goes back there. And her instinct has never been wrong before.

"Please!" Karen shouted before she quickly pushed her fists to her lips as sobs left her tired body. She slowly moved her hands to cover her face as tears poured down her face like a water stream. Karen leaned her body against Foggy's blue suit as he held her closely. 

"She can stay with me," Matt stated in a quiet voice as the only sound in the conference room was the sound of Karen's crying and sobbing. However, when he only received silence from both Foggy and Amelia, Matt added, "just for tonight until we figure something out." 

The other two defense attorneys glanced at each other with worried looks, but Amelia knew this was the best choice other than letting Karen stay with her in her secure apartment. But since Matt offered first, Amelia just silently agreed. Karen should be safe with Matt as no one from Union Allied knew that M.M.N. Associates was defending the blonde woman. So they should be fine for tonight until they could find a better solution.

* * *

Amelia Mansfield sighed tiredly as soon as she stepped foot inside of her apartment. She was exhausted from everything that happened today. From spending more than half of her day inside of a police station while she trying to get Karen released along with the interrogation that went down at M.M.N. Associates. Amelia was just ready to eat some leftover takeout before falling asleep with her husky, Bucky.

The brunette lawyer kicked off the black heels from her feet and hung her purse onto the metal hanger that was right next to her door. Amelia learned her back against the door as she closed her eyes. "Lights," Amelia commanded loudly as she spoke to the familiar, A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S. When Amelia felt the heat from the lights, she opened up her hazel eyes before she instantly frowned when she saw a manila folder laying on the hardwood floor of her foyer. 

Amelia took a few steps until she was standing in front of the folder. She bent down a gave Bucky a quick scratch behind his ear when he came up to her before grabbed the folder from the floor. The brunette woman studied the outside of the folder carefully and the only thing that was there was a large  _'A'_ written in black marker that was in the center of the folder.

Amelia came to the conclusion that someone slipped the manila folder under her door. She didn't really think it was that important, so Amelia tucked it under her arm before she made her way into her kitchen. Amelia swiftly grabbed her leftover chicken lo mein from the black refrigerator and a half full bottle red wine before she headed towards her living room.

The Mansfield woman took a seat onto her leather couch with Bucky watching her from his small red and black bed in the corner of the living room. Amelia opened up her takeout box and took a quick bit with the plastic fork that was seated on top of the noodles. The brunette woman moaned as she finally had food in her system before she grabbed the manila folder from her glass table in front of her.

Amelia sat her food beside her before tore open the manila folder. Amelia's hazel eyes furrowed deeply when she realized there was only three medium sized pictures inside. She carefully pulled them out and noticed they were only pictures of her. The first one was taken last week, Amelia recalled as it was a picture of her and Pepper Potts, Amelia's close friend, eating together outside of Barbuto on Washington St. 

The second picture was Amelia or Sergeant Viper entering Stark Tower with Natasha Romanoff or Black Widow, at midnight. Amelia remembered this moment instantly. It was right after they defeated Loki and the two women were going inside the tower to grab some of Amelia's clothes since she was going to stay with Natasha at her apartment.

And last but not least, the third picture was, once again, an image of Amelia. It was a shot from this morning when Amelia was walking Bucky down the street for his daily walk. There was nothing special inside of the picture, just Amelia and Bucky at six in the morning. The brunette woman didn't understand why someone would be taking pictures of her. Yeah, it would normal for Sergeant Viper, but no one even knew about her true identity except for the Avengers and the agents at S.H.I.E.L.D.

Amelia flipped the pictures of her as she looked for any type of clue from who's watching her. The only thing she did find was a small note on each picture. The first one of her and Pepper said,  _'we'll be seeing each other soon.'_ The second one of Sergeant Viper said,  _'you were never good at hiding your secrets.'_ And the third one said,  _'no one will be able to save you, not even yourself.'_

The brunette woman shook her head as she grabbed the bottle of wine. She was confused and annoyed at these small threats. It was obviously someone she knew or that knew her. However, it could be anybody seeing as Amelia had plenty of enemies. It could be someone from when she was in Marines or someone who was in Operation Cerberus, someone that she had dealt with while working for Fury or even someone from when she worked with her family after high school. The list was enormous for Amelia, so she just shrugged and placed the items onto the table.

Amelia had dealt with plenty of enemies in her life, so it was not something new for her. She would do what she always does when trouble comes towards her. She will fight when it's faced in front of her. She'll either do it alone or with someone watching her back. Amelia knew like Natasha had told her, there was no getting out of this life. Amelia just hoped whoever was after her, knew what they were dealing with. She didn't care if she gave up that part of her, if someone threats her life, she will go back to that way to protect who she really is and to protect the people she cares about. 

_Ready or not, here comes Sergeant Viper._


	4. CHAPTER 3

The Mansfield woman let out a heavy sigh once she finally opened her apartment door with her fingerprint and released her Siberian Husky, Bucky, from his leash after their two mile run through Sunset Park, which immediately caused her small dog to run straight towards the kitchen and right to his food and water bowl. Amelia shook her head at Bucky and told him, "I'll be right there," before she took off her black and white sneakers and grabbed her mail that sat on the ground in front of her door. 

Amelia slowly began to read through her stack of mail while she walked towards her kitchen. The lawyer usually didn't care much about her mail as her bills are always automatically taken out of her checking account. However, after Amelia received that package from an anonymous person that contained photos of her as Sergeant Viper and when she was out with her close friend; Pepper Potts, along with another one when she was walking Bucky, the brunette woman couldn't help but to be cautious and awaiting the next package from someone that obviously knew her. 

However, Amelia frowned when she saw that there was no new package from this person that was basically threatening her. The Mansfield woman didn't even know who could possibly be sending her these secret pictures since it could be anyone that she has met. It could be someone that she angered while she was in the Marines or when she worked with her father, or even when she was working with S.H.I.E.L.D.  Amelia has a list of enemies that could be doing this but she really wished that they would just show their face already. She hated all this cat-and-mouse games. It was annoying that she couldn't find this person since there was no way to track them. Amelia knew she just had to wait until they made their next move. It just irritated Amelia when she was finally moving on from that life and now someone is back from her past to mess it all up.  _Never a dull day,_ Amelia thought humorlessly as she tossed her mail onto the kitchen table.

The Mansfield woman headed to her black refrigerator, once she walked further into her kitchen, where she immediately grabbed a cold bottle of Smartwater and cracked it open. The exhausted Amelia downed half of the bottle of water before she poured the rest into Bucky's bowl. "There you go," Amelia murmured to her puppy as she watched Bucky hungrily drink down the water before she headed to the corner of her kitchen and grabbed a small package of dog food. The Mansfield woman then walked back over to her Husky and poured the dog food into his bowl before she tossed the plastic bag in the garbage. 

Amelia then grabbed a banana from her kitchen table and sat down in one of the chairs once she made sure that Bucky was taken care of before she took a large bite. The Mansfield woman immediately let out a happy moan once the tasty fruit hit her tongue as she realized just how hungry she was after her run with Bucky. Amelia had barely touched her Chinese food last night after she got the package from her past so the banana was basically tasting like a five star dinner right about now. Once the Mansfield woman quickly finished her snack, Amelia let out a small sigh before she curiously asked the artificial intelligence as she didn't even know what hour it was, "what time is it, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"It is nine thirty seven in the morning, Ms. Mansfield," the familiar voice of Tony's most prized creation spoke in less than a minute after the lawyer asked the question - which instantly caused the aforementioned brunette woman's green eyes to widen before she swiftly jumped up from her seat at the large kitchen table. 

"Crap," Amelia swore once she heard the time and quickly tossed the empty banana peel into the trashcan before she ran towards her bedroom and her bathroom. "Why am I always late?" The Mansfield woman questioned to herself as she had been late the first two days as an official lawyer before she hurriedly shed out of her sweatpants and crop top from her morning workout before she quickly jumped into the shower to erase all of the sweat on her body.

Amelia took the fastest shower that she could in less than ten minutes before she was wiping all of the water drops with her fluffy blue towel. The Mansfield woman then jogged straight towards her walk-in closet once she was dried, where she picked out her closest outfit that consisted of an ivory plaid dress and an off white coat. Amelia also picked up a pair of nude-colored heels and a matching leather purse before she finally exited out of her closet and rushed back to the bathroom. The rushing lawyer quickly dressed herself in her outfit of the day and quickly straightened out her brunette hair and also applying a thin layer of makeup before she rushed to the living room.

The Mansfield woman jogged to her leather couch and quickly grabbed her black purse that she was sporting yesterday before she grabbed the gun that Natasha had gifted her with and placed it inside of her nude-colored purse so that she would be packed for the day. Amelia then glanced down at her rose gold watch on her wrist and realized that she was cutting it close to ten in the morning. "I still got this," the lawyer mumbled to herself as she knew that she could make it to the office in fifteen minutes if she left now, so Amelia jogged towards her puppy and rubbed behind his ear and told Bucky, "I'll be home as soon as I can, buddy," before she swiftly rushed out of the front door of her apartment to officially began her day as Amelia Mansfield; the defense attorney of M.M.N. Associates.

* * *

 Amelia released a thankful sigh once she finally entered the familiar ugly green-colored office space that held hers and her best friends' attorney business at exactly fifteen minutes after she left her apartment, where she saw that Foggy and Matt were in the conference room and they weren't out on a new case. It meant that they weren't busy and that she didn't miss anything too important. However, Amelia still felt bad that she wasn't on time, so the female defense attorney headed towards her best friends and opened the door before she quickly apologized, "I am so so sorry that I'm late."

The two men, Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock, both turned their attention towards the entrance of the conference room once they heard the familiar voice. Foggy shook his head in amusement as he saw his friend's reddened cheeks from obviously running through the chilly streets of Hell's Kitchen before he questioned with a sarcastic smile, "did you over sleep again?"

Amelia rolled her green eyes at her long haired friend before she exclaimed while she explained why she wasn't on time as she was not about to let Foggy Nelson tease or reprimand her like he did yesterday when she wasn't even late since they didn't have an office space at the time while she walked further into the conference room, "no, I didn't over sleep. I just lost track of time while Bucky and I were working out in the park." 

A disgusted look immediately overtook Foggy's face before he muttered as if he was absolutely revolted by the Mansfield woman's usual morning activity along with the fact that Amelia mentioned that torturous dog that seems to hate his guts while a chilly shiver ran down his spin, "ew, gross. Exercise." 

Matt let out a low chuckle at his best friend beside him before he curiously asked Amelia about her companion since he hadn't seen the fluffy pet in a couple of months from how busy they all have been in trying to find an office space and graduating from Colombia Law School, "how is Bucky doing?"

A smile instantly lifted up onto Amelia's face at the blind man's question as her puppy adores Matt. "He's great," the Mansfield woman answered before she told Matt, "but he misses you." The Siberian Husky and her best friend, Matt not Foggy, were like two peas in a pod. However, Bucky absolutely hated her long haired best friend; Foggy Nelson. The two just never gotten along - probably because Foggy was afraid that Bucky would eat his face off. But on the other hand, Matt and Bucky are very close. It always made Amelia intrigued when Bucky would run to Matt's feet instead of her own when she would invite her friend over for dinner or they would walk together through Hell's Kitchen. 

The Murdock man nodded his head with a soft smile adoring his lips at the thought of the small puppy before he told his female best friend, "I'll have to join you two one morning." Matt let out a small chuckle before he corrected himself with a joke as he knew that he couldn't keep up with Amelia's rigorous workout routine, well that's what his friends thought, anyway, "but I think a walk would be better."

"He would absolutely love that," Amelia stated with complete certainty as she knew Bucky would be over the moon to see Matt again. The Mansfield woman then leaned her body against one of the rolling chairs for a moment as a silence overtook the conference room before she questioned as she realized that they weren't exactly busy, "so, what's on the docket today? Do we have a new case?"

"Nope," Foggy loudly groaned out before he picked up the stack of papers that was sitting in front of him and told Amelia what their day was going to be consisting of, "we are on paperwork duty." The Nelson man rolled his eyes as he mumbled to himself while he ran his fingers through his long hair, "I hate this part of the job."

Amelia furrowed her brows in confusion as she didn't understand why they would be doing paperwork when they still have a case with Ms. Karen Page. "What happened to our client?" The Mansfield woman inquired as the last thing she remembered from yesterday was the fact that the blonde woman was going to stay with Matt until they figured out who was trying to frame Karen for Daniel Fisher's murder and who hired the man that tried to kill her in her cell at the police station. 

Foggy's eyes instantly widened in excitement at his friend's question before he hurriedly asked Amelia, "oh, my God! You didn't hear what happened?" Once Amelia shook her head with the same confusion in her green eyes, the Nelson man straightened up his stance in his seat before he gossiped to the brunette woman, "apparently the people that tried to have her killed went and attacked her last night but she was then saved by some maniac in a mask!"

The Mansfield woman took a seat at the glass conference table as she was immediately interested into Foggy's story about what happened last night. Amelia realized that was why she had so many calls from Foggy and Brett late last night but she had ignored it while she was trying to track her secret stalker. "Wait, what?" Amelia interrogated in puzzlement, "what exactly happened?" The brunette woman glanced over at Matt as she commented, "I thought she was with you last night."

Matt loudly cleared his throat before he murmured, "she was with me." The Murdock man let out a low sigh as he ran his fingers through his short hair in false distress before he explained to Amelia like he had done to Foggy late last night when word was getting around to what happened to Karen, "but after a few hours, she started to freak out. I thought I had calmed her down but when I woke up she was gone."

Foggy grabbed the newspaper that was sitting beside his now cold cup of coffee and tossed it across the table towards Amelia before he explained what happened after Karen left Matt's apartment, "the guy in the mask showed up at Karen's apartment right when she was there being attacked by who tried to kill her and the next thing I know I'm getting a call from the New York Bulletin for a quote on our client." Foggy shook his head with the same giggly smile on his face as he exclaimed, "our savior in the mask ended up delivering the attempted murder and the flash drive Karen had saved to the press and now our client is free of all charges!"

_I missed a lot last night,_ Amelia thought after she listened to Foggy finish telling the story of their client while she scanned over the information on the cover of the New York Bulletin that had a large image of the guilty man. Amelia was mostly confused that she hadn't heard of this man in the mask as she knew that they could easily prove that Karen was innocent. "Who does this guy think he is, the caped crusader?" The Mansfield woman voiced her thoughts with a loud huff.  _I'm going to have to have a conversation with Fury about this,_ Amelia mentally reminded herself as she didn't like the idea of not knowing about this crusader or whatever he is going by running through Hell's Kitchen. Even though Amelia wasn't in the 'hero industry' any longer, she still would like to know about who was trying to take out the bad guys - especially when he saved their client.

The Nelson man let out a heavy laughter at his friend's comparison to the man that seemed to single handily turn in the guilty man that should have been charged all along instead of Karen and any of the information that could be used to incriminate their client. "Well, he doesn't wear a cape, so I'm thinking more on the lines of 'the masked crusader,'" Foggy countered Amelia's name that was reserved for Batman with his own that actually fit the person that helped Karen out.

"We should really get this paperwork finished before the DA shows up and we all know that won't be pretty," Matt quickly told his two best friends as he wanted to move off of the conversation of the man in the mask that happened to be him. The Murdock man didn't want to draw anymore attention to himself after he helped Karen. The last thing Matt wanted was for Foggy and Amelia to know the truth about what he did last night as it wasn't safe for them to ever know. 

Amelia huffed out a loud sigh at the same time as Foggy did as she really didn't feel like filing paperwork today or ever. However, the Mansfield woman knew that there was no putting it off when they only had two pairs of eyes and one impatient DA. Amelia would rather hurry and finally finish this case so they could move on to their next client so the brunette lawyer grabbed the other stack of papers from the glass table and murmured, "it's not going to do itself." 

The Mansfield woman glanced through the stack of papers in her hands and immediately realized that it would take most of her day, so Amelia gave her friends a small smile before she stated as she knew that she would need some peace and quiet if she was going to finish this all, "I'll be in my office if you guys need me." The brunette lawyer then shot Foggy a wink and told him, "good luck," before she turned around with her stack of papers and headed towards the suite office that belonged to her.

Amelia tossed her stack of papers about Karen Page's case down onto her desk as soon as she entered her office and closed the door behind her. "This is going to be a long day," the brunette woman mumbled as she glared across at the paperwork in disgust. This was one thing Amelia always hated - especially when she was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent since she used have to write out her report by hand. Amelia was more a hands-on type of person so she always loved the missions but hated what came after and it seemed like being a lawyer, sadly, has the same layout with all the paperwork. 

Amelia knew there was no getting out of it, though, so she grabbed a rubber band from her desk drawer and placed her brunette hair into a low ponytail before she psyched herself up, "let's do this." The Mansfield woman then shed her nude-colored heels and tossed her coat in the love seat that sat in the corner of her office before she took a seat at her desk. Amelia grabbed a black pen from the cup holder that held all her pens and pencils before she placed the stack of papers in front of her. However, before she could even begin, Amelia shook her head as she knew what she was missing.

The Mansfield woman placed her hand onto her globe and waited until the familiar blue light showed across her wall before she murmured, "J.A.R.V.I.S., can you please play my 'Iron Man Is The Best' playlist at a low volume?" Amelia couldn't help but roll her green eyes as soon as she uttered the name of her playlist that helps her work.  _I blame Tony,_ the brunette thought as she was the same as her unofficial adopted brother who has to have rock and roll music like Black Sabbath and Metallica when he's working. 

"Certainly, Ms. Mansfield," the artificial intelligence responded in his familiar voice that Amelia always connected with home at the Stark Malibu mansion, where she spent years at before she also claimed the Stark Tower as her home once she joined the Avengers, before J.A.R.V.I.S. began Amelia's playlist that began with Daddy Rollin' Stone by The Blasters. 

"Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S.," Amelia praised before she turned her attention back onto the paperwork for M.M.N. Associate's client. The Mansfield woman scanned the first page and realized that she only needed to add her signature to seven different spots that basically said that she was one of the defense attorneys that defended Karen Page on the case of the murder of Daniel Fisher.  _Easy enough,_ Amelia thought once she signed her name several times before she moved onto the next page, which had basically the same setup except that it began to ask for details on the case and the procedures that she, Foggy, and Matt went through.

The Mansfield woman went through the same process with her playlist quietly playing in the background for about three hours before she heard her cell phone ringing inside of her off white coat. Amelia quickly tossed her pen to the side and rushed towards her love seat to grab her cell phone as she thought it might be Brett with information on another case. However, when Amelia reached her phone, she found it wasn't Brett but someone that she missed hanging with. "Pepper, hey!" Amelia immediately greeted her friend once she pressed the accept button on her phone and made her way back to her desk.

"Hey, Amy!" The strawberry blonde woman also known as Pepper Potts greeted her best friend once she heard the familiar voice before she quickly and nervously uttered as she didn't want to interrupt the new lawyer if she was in the middle of something important, "I hope I'm not distracting you while you're working."

"Oh, no, no. You're fine," Amelia quickly assured Pepper before she glared down at the half-stack of papers that the brunette lawyer hadn't finished yet with a look of disgust. "I'm just filling out paperwork now that our case is officially closed," the Mansfield woman explained with a loud groan as she leaned head in the palm of her hand. 

"I bet you are hating that," Pepper uttered with a chuckle as she knew how Amelia can get with doing clerical work as she used to listen to the brunette woman complain over glasses of wine about how Amelia always thought Fury was punishing her by making her do her own paperwork. "But I'm glad that you already have your first case finished," Pepper added before a thought suddenly popped into her head. "We should celebrate your first win!" The strawberry blonde exclaimed, "I'm in the area, so if you're not too busy with your paperwork, let's go out for lunch."

Amelia's mood instantly brightened at the strawberry blonde's invitation as she was dying to leave the office for a while before she ended up stabbing herself with a pen to end her boredom. "You are a savior, Ms. Pepper Potts," the Mansfield woman expressed her gratitude with a heavy sigh before she got from her desk and slipped back into her nude-colored heels. "Where are you thinking for lunch?" Amelia wondered as she was really up for anything right about now.

The strawberry blonde woman thought for a moment about what she was craving while she glanced around the streets of New York from her position on top of the stairs in front of Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she had just finished having a meeting with a potential investor for Stark Industries and noticed a street cart selling sandwiches. "Oh, how about that sandwich shop down on Lexington Avenue?" Pepper inquired as she realized that she definitely craving a carb-filled sandwich.

Amelia furrowed her brows as she tried to think of what was on Lexington Avenue before she remembered the place; Untamed Sandwiches. "Yeah, that sounds good," the Mansfield woman affirmed to her friend as she held her cell phone with her ear and shoulder while she slipped on her off-white coat. Amelia knew it was the perfect place since it was only nine blocks away from the office, so it shouldn't take too long before she would be back to finish the rest of her paperwork.

Pepper nodded her head to herself with a small smile as she was glad that she was finally going to be able to see her friend that she hadn't seen in a couple of weeks because of how busy the brunette woman has been. "Alright," the strawberry blonde muttered before she stated as she walked down the stairs of the museum and headed towards Happy and the town car, "I'll probably beat you there since I'm only about ten minutes away."

Amelia grabbed her nude-colored purse from her desk and slipped it onto her left arm before she told her friend as she knew it would take her about twelve minutes to arrive at the sandwich shop from the 50 Street Subway Station, "I should only be a couple of minutes behind you." The Mansfield woman then opened the door to her office and turned off the light before she told Pepper while she closed the door behind her, "I see you soon, Peps."

Once the brunette woman heard Pepper give her a small farewell, Amelia placed her cell phone into her coat pocket before she made her way towards the conference room - where she found Foggy and Matt still in the room but now the Murdock man was slowly walking up and down the length of the glass table while the Nelson man had his head pointing towards the ceiling while he drummed his fingers against his chest. Amelia couldn't help but let out a heavy chuckle, which immediately alerted the men at her arrival, as she realized that she wasn't the only bored one.

"Please tell me you can finish the paperwork for me," Foggy desperately begged once he leveled his head and stared across at his female best friend as he pleaded with his puppy dog-like eyes. The Nelson man didn't even want to look at anymore paperwork that involved Karen Page's case as it was making his head hurt and they had ran out of coffee hours ago, so there went his motivation for finishing up the clerical side of being a lawyer.

Amelia let out a groan at the mention of the work that she still had unfinished on her desk before she told Foggy the bad news, "I'm only half of the way done with mine." The Mansfield woman pushed her nude-colored purse further up her shoulder before she told her two best friends the reason why she had made her presence known, "I'm going out for lunch with an old friend. I shouldn't be gone too long so we can finish up with all this paperwork as quickly as possible and get out of here."

The Murdock lawyer nodded his head with a small smile once he finally stopped walking around the conference room. "I think we can manage without you for a few hours," Matt assured the brunette woman before he placed his hand onto the Nelson man's shoulder and teased with a cheeky grin as he knew how miserable his partner had been all morning, "I'm sure Fog can handle the paperwork for now."

"Kiss my ass, Murdock," the long haired man groaned before he slammed his head down onto the aforementioned paperwork that will be the bane of his existence. Foggy felt like the papers were on a loop as they seemed to never end. He had been writing his signature and adding some details about the case since seven this morning and he was completely tired of it. "We need to hire an assistant," Foggy told the partners of their firm as he didn't know if he could handle the stress of filing out paperwork every time that they have a case.

Amelia and Matt both let out a heavy laughter at their complaining best friend before the brunette woman uttered to the exhausted Foggy, "I'll start looking into someone to help out." The Mansfield woman knew that her two best friends were basically broke and didn't have a billionaire adopted brother like she did, so she would happily look for an assistant to help out with their phone calls, when they got some, and with the paperwork. The clerical side of their job was just taking too much time when they could be out looking for a new client. 

"Do you boys need me to pick something up while I'm out?" The Mansfield woman wondered once the conference room grew silent after they all agreed with the idea of getting an assistant to help them out. It was a cost-effective problem but they all knew that it would improve their firm by a lot since Matt could only answer Foggy's questions and it was just too much work for Foggy and Amelia to be doing when they are lawyers that should be out and helping people inside of wasting their time on writing out all the information of their case.

"Coffee," Matt and Foggy immediately uttered in unison as there was nothing in the world that they would rather have right now except for the heavenly caffeine that keeps them motivated and awake for boring and slow days like they were going through only on their second day as official lawyers. 

Amelia let out a small chuckle before she assured the two men, "I'll pick up a couple of packages on my way back." The Mansfield woman was pleasantly surprised with how many packages of coffee that they had already went through. Amelia had brought three medium sized bags when they were first moving in all their furniture into their office space which also included a hi-tech coffee machine that Pepper had gifted to Amelia a year ago.  _We might need to bulk up,_ the brunette woman thought to herself as she knew that coffee was going go by extremely fast between three defense attorneys.

The Mansfield woman gave her two friends one last smile as she knew that she was running a bit behind to meet Pepper before she teasingly told Matt and Foggy, "have fun boys!" Amelia then swiftly turned around and exited out of the conference room with the two men's groaning trailing behind her. The brunette lawyer shook her head in amusement at her best friends as she could always count on Foggy and Matt to make her smile before she finally left their office room all together and made her way out of the building to go meet her best friend for lunch.


	5. CHAPTER 4

Amelia jogged her way through the streets of Hell's Kitchen, once she exited out of her workplace, until she reached the 50 Street Subway Station that was only a couple of blocks down from M.M.N. Associates before she quickly swiped her card and easily found her spot closest to the door on the subway. Amelia was so thankful that she had arrived just in time or she would have to wait another twelve minutes until it would show up again. 

The Mansfield woman then rode the subway for about thirteen minutes before it slowly came to a stop and she jumped right out and rushed up the stairs until she could see the above level of New York City. Amelia glanced around her for a moment before she immediately spotted Untamed Sandwiches that was diagonal to the subway station. However, Amelia didn't rush towards her strawberry blonde like she wanted as she spotted a familiar face sitting outside with Pepper.  _Of course he came too,_ the brunette woman thought with an eye roll before she quickly crossed the street and headed towards the outside seating area of the sandwich shop.

Pepper was the first one to stand up from the table since the person next to her was fuming to himself before she quickly pulled Amelia into a tight hug. "Oh, it's so good to finally see you in person again," the strawberry blonde gushed while she hugged the woman tightly as she had missed seeing her best friend's face everyday around Stark tower. 

Amelia let out a small chuckle at the strawberry blonde before she murmured right back into their tight embrace, "I've missed you too, Peps." The Mansfield woman then turned her attention on the still fuming person that was lazily relaxed in the black steel chair with a raised eyebrow. "Well?" Amelia questioned with a hint of amusement in her voice, "aren't you gonna say hello?"

However, instead of the warm greeting from the man that she wanted and was expecting, Amelia received the same old words that she always got when they would meet somewhere. "Please for the love of God, let me hire you a driver so you don't have to take the subway," Tony Stark begged as he didn't see why Amelia was still using public transportation. "You are an Avenger for heaven's sake," Tony whispered the words before he muttered with an eye roll, "you are so damn stubborn, woman."

Amelia rolled her green eyes right back at her adopted brother and leaned over the table to place a kiss onto Tony's forehead before she teased him, "I wonder where I got that from." The Mansfield woman then took a seat at the table, where she finally noticed the three sets of plates that each held a BLT sandwich, potato chips, and a side salad. Amelia swiftly popped a salty chip into her mouth before she faced Tony and told him, "besides, I don't need a driver. I'm perfectly fine by myself." The brunette leaned in before she whispered, "I was Sergeant Viper for years, so I think I'll be safe if someone thinks it's okay to attack an innocent woman."

"Oh, please, Amelia," the brown eyed man muttered at her obvious lie before he stated, "you are anything but innocent with your sniper skills." Tony crossed his arms over his Black Sabbath t-shirt as he stared across at his adopted sister with a glare before he tried once more, "just let the guy drive you around for a couple of days." Tony quickly held up his finger when he saw Amelia was about to argue before he added, "if you don't like him then you can fire him yourself but just give it a shot." The billionaire popped a chip in his mouth like Amelia had done before he sincerely told her, "I know you can protect herself but it would make me feel better to know that you are safe here in Hell's Kitchen since you wouldn't stay in Manhattan with us."

The Mansfield lawyer stared into Tony's brown eyes for a moment before a loud sigh immediately escaped her mouth along with her body sagging in her seat. "You just had to pull out the guilt card, didn't you?" Amelia grumbled as she always felt bad for leaving Tony after all the things that he has done for her since she was twenty-three which consisted of getting her out of the family business and helping her get into Columbia Law School. 

"So, does that mean it's a yes?" The Stark billionaire inquired with a hopeful gleam shining throughout his brown eyes. Tony knew it was low of him to bring up the one decision that Amelia had a hard time getting over by either taking a job in Manhattan at the best law firm or building her own in Hell's Kitchen with her friends as she always felt like she owed him something for helping her out. However, Tony knew that Amelia knew that he was actually fine with her decision since it kept her face out of the newspapers and magazines which kept her past from catching up to her. 

Amelia rolled her green eyes at her adopted brother before she deadpanned in annoyance, "yes, Tony. I'll take this stupid driver of yours if it'll make you happy." The Mansfield woman would rather do anything in the world than have someone drive her around. She didn't like the idea of someone doing that for her as she have always liked to do things herself. However, if it would get Tony to shut up for once, Amelia would accept the driver... but that didn't mean that she follow the rules, though.

Tony clapped his hands together with a large grin shining across his lips and exclaimed, "great!" The man also known as Iron Man took a large bite out of his BLT sandwich before he told his adopted sister, "I'll go call Joey right now then and let him know to where he needs to pick you up." Tony groaned while he pointed towards the sandwich as he showed his approval for the small shop before he stood up from the table and placed a kiss onto the silent Pepper's lips and a kiss onto Amelia's forehead. "Oh, by the way," Tony began as he looked at Amelia before he rushed out, "Joey's also your bodyguard." The Stark billionaire then shot his adopted sister a smirk and quickly added before he took off down the street so Amelia couldn't hit him or back out of their deal, "have a fun day, girls!"

The Mansfield woman glared as she watched Tony run down the block and into a side street before she pushed her face into her hands with a loud groan. "How do you deal with that man everyday?" Amelia asked her best friend, who was currently living with the trouble-making-superhero. 

"The same way we've always done it," Pepper told her friend with a soft chuckle before she explained after she took a small bite from her side salad, "but always having a drink in our hands." The two women immediately let out a laugh at Pepper's statement that was completely the truth as it's hard to deal with the Tony Stark without having a good supply of alcohol. "Anyways," Pepper began as she reached over and squeezed Amelia's hand before she told the lawyer, "you know he's just worried about you even though he won't admit it. He missed his sister."

A small smile lifted onto Amelia's face at Pepper's explanation for the brash Tony Stark before she murmured, "I know. I've missed him too." The Mansfield woman felt through all her resistant for this driver and bodyguard that she appreciated what Tony was doing for her. It meant a lot to her but she didn't really find it necessary since she could kill any man or woman that tried to attack her with her hands tied behind her back. However, Amelia decided that she would humor her adopted brother if it would make him feel better about her living in Hell's Kitchen. 

"So, what's been going on with you, Ms. Potts?" The brunette lawyer questioned once she finally accepted Tony's help as she wanted to focus on her friend before she had to head back to work to the extremely boring paperwork. Amelia felt like it had been years since she last had a face to face conversation with the strawberry blonde - despite that they only live twenty-three blocks from each other.

Pepper quickly wiped her mouth with a napkin once she took a bite from her sandwich before she lightly shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, you know, busy trying to keep Tony in line," the strawberry blonde joked before she uttered seriously, "I've been traveling for Stark Industries to find the right investors and engineers for some new invention Tony wants to make." Pepper shook her head and waved her hand as she exclaimed, "I try to ignore all the science talk that I don't understand half the time."

Amelia's green eyes widened in excitement as she used to always love working on Tony's inventions with him when she lived at his place in Malibu and the Stark Tower. "Ooh, is it the Stark HUD 2020?" The Mansfield woman hurriedly questioned as she remembered her adopted brother was working on it when she was in her last year of Columbia Law School. Amelia and Tony had came up with the design soon after the Avengers Initiative was conducted by Fury and it was basically what is in Tony's suit with J.A.R.V.I.S. and geo-location services along with instant information about anything by simply looking at it through the glasses. Amelia knew Tony had a prototype made up in these thick and red sunglasses but they had been trying to put it into a smaller form so it would be easy for the Avengers or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to use. Amelia figured that is why Tony wanted investors to help with making a smaller version. 

Pepper looked at the brunette woman with her strawberry blonde brows deeply furrowed as if Amelia was speaking a whole different language. The CEO of Stark Industries finally shook her head and muttered as she knew that she wouldn't be able to tell Amelia if that was what Tony is working on as she honestly didn't know, "let's go with that." Pepper let out a small chuckle before she asked her friend, "so, how is the lawyer thing going?"

Amelia gave the strawberry blonde a large grin as she knew Pepper's expertise wasn't in the science aspect of Stark Industries as that was more hers, Tony's, and Bruce's department.  _I'm going to have to stop by the Tower when I have some free time,_ the brunette woman mentally reminded herself as she wanted to see how the invention was going. Amelia then turned her attention back onto Pepper's question as she stated, "we're still on our first case since the miles of paperwork we have to go through to just turn it over to the DA, but I'm happy." Even though Amelia had been complaining nonstop all day, she really was happy like she told Pepper. She was finally living her dream and Amelia couldn't ask for anything better than her own law firm with her two best friends.

The strawberry blonde woman reached across the table and squeezed Amelia's lower arm with a proud smile shining across her pink lips. "I'm glad that you're finally truly happy, Amy," the CEO expressed as she knew how hard the defense attorney had worked ever since she showed up at Tony's place in Malibu looking for a new life. 

"I really am happy," Amelia told her best friend before a blessed breath escaped her mouth. "I know I could still be an agent with S.H.I.E.L.D. but I really think this is where I belong," the brunette woman stated as she thought back to all the times that she fought Fury on quitting on him and focusing on her law career. Amelia believed that fighting in a courtroom for the innocent was where she was supposed to be. She had been a soldier all of her life, so the brunette woman felt like her being a lawyer was like a fresh breath of air in a dust storm as it made her feel like a normal person again.

"Well, you deserve it, Amy," the strawberry blonde exclaimed with a bright grin across her face. The two woman then sat there in a peaceful silence as they enjoyed their lunch together before Pepper murmured once she finished her sandwich, "I missed this." The CEO thought for a moment before an idea popped into her mind as she wanted to continue having moments like this with her friend. "We should meet at least once a month and do something fun by ourselves with no Tony or anything bothering us to relax and catch up," Pepper stated as she came up with the perfect plan to still be involved in her best friend's life.

Amelia nodded her head with a small smile before she commented, "I'd like that." The Mansfield woman could be herself with Foggy and Matt but it wasn't the same when she was around Pepper since the strawberry blonde knew her secret identity and her past life, so she could be a true self around the woman and that always made Amelia relaxed instead of having to be on guard with what she says. "My schedule is pretty random since I don't know when a case will come in, but just let me know when you aren't busy traveling for Stark Industries and we can set something up," the lawyer told Pepper as she really wanted to make their girls' day happen in the future, where they both could relax.

"I'll call you later this week after I look over my calendar and I'll see what days I have free," Pepper promised to her brunette friend as she wasn't sure when she would have a day off from being the CEO of Stark Industries.  _I'm sure Tony will give me a day off when it has to do with his sister,_ the strawberry blonde thought to herself as she knew Tony would do whatever it took to make sure Amelia was happy. Pepper had never seen anyone as close as the two heroes that had claimed each other as siblings. It's really sweet in Pepper's opinion since they both keep each other level headed from falling into a spiral of bad memories and alcohol.

"I could probably convince Tony to let us use his island in Jamai-" Amelia had began to tell her best friend about a trip they could make before something suddenly caught her attention from across the street that came in the form of a very attractive guy that the brunette lawyer had never seen before. "Woah," Amelia mumbled before she wondered as she stared at the unfamiliar, well-dressed man, "who's the hottie leaning against the blue 1962 Impala?"

Pepper quickly began to search around the streets in front Untamed Sandwiches before she finally locked her eyes on the only old school car that was around. The strawberry blonde's blue irises instantly widened when she saw the familiar man that had been at the Stark Tower a few times in the last couple of months. "Oh," Pepper murmured before she told Amelia, "that's Joey."

Amelia glanced over to her friend with a raised eyebrow as she was surprised that was who Tony had picked as her driver and bodyguard. "Wow," the brunette woman uttered before she wondered as she voiced her attractiveness to the man that she now knew as Joey, "my brother sure knows how to pick em, huh?"

Pepper couldn't help but roll her blue eyes with a small chuckle as her giggly friend, who obviously enjoying the fact that she would be having a hot guy follow her around and protect her at all times. "I see you have no problems with your bodyguard anymore," the strawberry blonde teased as she watched Amelia basically drool over Joey. 

"Well, can you blame me?" Amelia inquired as she watched the man pull out a cigarette from his nicely straightened black suit before she finally tore her green irises off of the man that went by Joey. The brunette woman gave her friend a pointed look before she exclaimed, "you know if you weren't involved with Tony then you would be all over that, Peps."  

The strawberry blonde woman lightly shrugged her shoulders and uttered, "maybe so." Pepper wasn't going to lie and say that she didn't find Joey attractive as she would have to be stupid to not see the man had a certain look about him that attracted attention from anyone that looked his way. The two women couldn't help but let out a small laugh as they both basically gossiped about the man before a bright grin instantly pulled onto Pepper's face as she noticed something out of the corner of her eyes before she hurriedly told her friend in a teasing voice , "look out, Mr. hottie is coming your way."

The Mansfield woman turned her head to the left just in time after she heard Pepper's warning and saw as the guy that Tony hired for her and her safety began to walk up onto the pavement of Untamed Sandwiches before he walked up towards their table.  _He's even more attractive up close and personal,_ Amelia couldn't help but comment to herself as she looked up and down the muscular man's body.

"It's nice to see you again, Pepper," the man politely uttered in his smooth but deep British accent once he was only a few feet away before he shook the strawberry blonde's awaiting hand. Joey then turned his attention onto the brunette woman after Pepper had uttered a small hello before he introduced himself to his new client, "I'm Joseph Russell but you may call me Joey like everyone else does. Tony hired me to be your personal driver to wherever you need to go and to be your bodyguard." 

Amelia nodded her head as she already knew that information from her adopted brother before she shook the man's large and rough hand. "It's nice to meet you," the Mansfield woman politely and professionally uttered before she also introduced herself, even though she figured Joey already knew who she is since he's taking a job from Tony, "I'm Amelia Mansfield."

The calm and relaxed Mansfield woman and the serious and muscular Russell man stared directly at one another with only a few inches between them after their introductions like they were both testing each other before a small but barely noticeable smile lifted onto Joey's face once he realized that he wasn't going to get the usual reaction that he would receive from his clients which consisted of a nervous or scared look. However, Joey didn't think he would get one of those expressions from Amelia after Tony had mentioned that the woman in front of him used to be an agent for the famously known Government agency named S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Well, I'm going to take my exit now," the strawberry blonde woman exclaimed as she watched the interaction between her best friend and the British bodyguard for a few tense minutes before she stood up from the table and moved to stand beside Amelia. "I'll call you soon and pick a day for us to get together," Pepper promised as she pulled her friend into a tight hug. 

Amelia gave the strawberry blonde a small smile once they pulled away from their embrace before she waved goodbye as she watched as Pepper made her way down to the town car that was located a few feet away - where she saw the familiar man that happens to be Tony and Pepper's driver; Happy Hogan. The brunette woman gave the older man a small wave along with a silent chuckle when she watched as Happy called out to her before he quickly got back into the black car.  _I'll have to say hello soon,_ Amelia reminded herself as she had missed spending time with Happy as he could always make her laugh.

The part time driver and part time bodyguard buttoned up his black suit and straightened it out before he cleared his throat to gain his newest client's attention once he watched as Pepper Potts had drove down the block and out of their view. "Is there somewhere you would like me to take you, Ms. Mansfield?" Joey professionally inquired as he knew he had a job to do.

Amelia swiftly flipped her hair over her shoulder when she turned back around and faced the man that Tony hired for her. The Mansfield woman glared at the man before she told him, "don't call me that. I'm not that old." It was bad enough that she would have someone follow her every move, so Amelia was not about to have this man call her by her last name like she was some old and fragile lady.

The man let out a small chuckle at the intense woman that Tony had mentioned wouldn't exactly want his help but didn't say anything right away. Instead he turned to the side and held out his arm as he pointed Amelia towards his 1962 Impala. Joey waited until Amelia walked ahead of him before he followed closely behind while he kept a lookout for anyone suspicious. Once they reached his car, Joey opened the backseat door but blocked Amelia's entrance before she could get in. "You are anything but old," Joey whispered as he glanced down at the brunette woman's body before he swiftly took a step back and let Amelia get into his car.

Amelia released a surprised breath once she had closed the door behind her as she was not expecting this muscular, British man to basically tease her like that.  _This is going to be fun,_ the brunette woman thought to herself as she could tell that Joey would be very entertaining by their recent interactions with each other. Amelia decided, now that she knew Joey wasn't a hard ass, that she would try to be nice so she slipped on her seat belt before she told her personal driver, "I need to make a quick stop at Fairway Market."

Joey nodded his head from the front seat as he started his Impala and began to drive down the streets of Brooklyn, New York to the grocery store that was only about a ten minute drive away. The Mansfield woman and the Russell man then rode in silence for a few minutes before Joey wondered as he raised his eyebrow through the rear view mirror, "what would you like to be called since you don't like to be called by your last name?"

The Mansfield woman barely had to think for a second before she told her personal driver as she usually only went by one of two names, unless she's really close to them, "you can call me Amelia or Amy." The brunette lawyer then shrugged her shoulders and told Joey, "whichever you prefer." Amelia glanced back up to her driver after a moment before she wondered, "you mentioned that your name is Joseph, so would you rather go by Joseph or Joey?"

Joey glanced back at the brunette woman through the small mirror before he silently focused back on the road for a minute. Once the Russell man didn't see any traffic in his way and he noticed the grocery store in his sights, Joey shot Amelia a tiny smirk before he copied what she had said to him, "whichever you prefer."

_This man is really testing my patience, huh?_ Amelia thought as she squinted her green eyes at her personal driver before she added,  _well, two can play at this game._ The Mansfield woman then shot Joey an innocent smile before she came to the conclusion at what she was going to call him by, "I think I'm going to call you Jojo from now on."

The man in front seat silently shook his head with a grin spread widely across his lips as he realized that this was not going to be like any other client that he has had before and that was definitely saying something since he used to be a bodyguard for the Prime Minister of France and for Carmine "The Snake" Persico of the Colombo crime family.  _I like the chase, though,_ Joey thought to himself as he pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store as he knew Amelia was going to be a difficult client.

"I'll only be in there for five minutes," Amelia told her personal driver once the car came to a full stop before she grabbed her purse from beside her and opened up the backseat door to go pick up the coffee for M.M.N. Associates. However, before Amelia could get the chance to fully get out of the car, Joey was already waiting as he held the open door for her.

"My job is to keep you safe," Joey reminded her once he locked up his Impala and began to follow beside the fast walking brunette woman before he continued with his bodyguard speech to the lawyer that was obviously going to give him a hard time, "and that means you, Amelia, don't get to leave my side anytime soon."

Amelia couldn't help but roll her green eyes as she was already growing tired of her very large and muscular shadow. "I'm literally going into a public supermarket for coffee," the brunette woman exclaimed before she interrogated with a raised eyebrow once she glanced over at the Russell man, "what kind of trouble could I possibly find?"

Joey swiftly opened the door of Fairway Market and let the brunette woman walk in front of him before he told her while he followed Amelia down the tea and coffee aisle, "from the information that I've gathered about you, I'd say it would be very likely for you to find yourself in some type of trouble."

Amelia glanced up and over at the taller man with curiousness shining through her green eyes before she wondered, "and what is it that you know about me, Jojo?" The Mansfield woman was intrigued by what her lovely adopted brother, Tony Stark, could have told the man that would be watching her every move. Amelia figured that Tony would have mentioned some things like her involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D. since it would be very suspicious for a normal woman from Hell's Kitchen to know Iron Man. 

"I know that you were in the Marines straight out of high school and became the first female sniper in US military history," Joey began as he watched as the brunette woman picked up four large light brown packages of coffee. "I also know that you worked under Director Fury until a couple of months ago when you built your own law business from the ground up with a Mr. Foggy Nelson and a Mr. Matthew Murdock," Joey concluded his summary about what he had learned from Tony and from his own personal research of his client.

The Mansfield lawyer squinted her green eyes at the taller man as they stood in the middle of the empty aisle between the coffees and teas before she interrogated, "and is that all you know about me?" Amelia needed to know if she could trust this man as for all she knew, Joey could be the one sending her the photos and secret messages to her apartment that no one should know about. 

Joey crossed his thick and muscular arms over his chest on top of his straightened black tie as he stared down at the brunette woman before he told Amelia the bare minimum of the truth in his emotionless and professional voice, "I know what is needed for me to be able to do my job and keep you safe." 

_That's not very helpful,_ Amelia thought since there could be a million of different things that her new bodyguard could know about her. "What did I do for Director Fury?" The Mansfield woman questioned as she took a step closer towards Joey as she needed to know all the facts that her new bodyguard has. If she was going to allow this man to follow her around, Amelia needed to know if she would have to keep her guard up and hide parts of her away.

"You were an agent that worked along side Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers or as everyone knows them as the Black Widow and Captain America," Joey immediately answered as he had studied the brunette woman's file ever since Tony had offered him this job a few months ago. "You are Tony Stark's adopted sister but there are no records of this and you didn't show up until 2009," Joey continued as he decided to give Amelia the answer that she was searching for, "there is no information about Amelia Mansfield before that year. However, Tony had explained that you were off the grid for years until you resurfaced at the age of twenty-three and I have no reason to not believe that to be true."

_Hmm,_ Amelia thought as she was still wary of the man in front of him since he knew the fact that she didn't actually exist before she showed up in Malibu and Tony had helped her get away from her past. No one was supposed to know that she had changed her name except for Director Fury, Agent Coulson, and Tony Stark - along with the Avengers, so Amelia didn't like that Joey Russell, someone that she knew nothing about, knew that about her. "What are your credentials for Tony Stark to hire you for his sister?" Amelia interrogated after a moment of silence as she needed to know something about this man before she did her own research.

"I'm currently working for the CIA," Joey answered his client's question as he knew that he needed to gain her trust so this partnership would go over more smoothly like Tony had mentioned since Amelia Mansfield doesn't trust easily. "I originally started my career with the British Army before moving to the Secret Intelligence Service after becoming the Lieutenant General," Joey continued to explain his credentials for such an important client like ex-agent and Avenger turned lawyer. 

Amelia raised an eyebrow at the man and mumbled, "impressive," before she walked passed the CIA agent and headed towards the cashier at Fairway Market. The Mansfield woman then paid for her bags of coffee for the caffeine addicted lawyers while she felt Joey breathing down her neck before she took her leave and headed back to Impala with the man, of course, only a foot away from her.

Once the Mansfield woman and the Russell man was back inside of the old school vehicle, Joey started up his car and backed out of the parking lot in complete silence before he glanced back at the woman behind him and inquired their next destination, "where would you like me to take you, Amelia?"

A small smile lifted onto Amelia's face at the fact that the agent was finally calling her by her name.  _Good,_ Amelia thought before she added in her head with a smirk,  _but I'm still calling you Jojo._ The Mansfield woman then lifted her head between the two front seats before she gave her bodyguard the address to the building where M.M.N Associates is located since she didn't need to make anymore stops.

The 1962 Impala stayed silent after Amelia had gave the man the address as she began her research on the Stark tablet that she had in her large nude colored leather purse about the man in front of her. Amelia trusted Tony with her life but she didn't like not knowing who would be following her around. It would put her at peace, so Amelia hacked into the British Intelligence Agency and began her search on all things Joseph Russell to know if he has a secret past like she did.

_Widower. Wife was murdered by his twin brother when he was nineteen,_ Amelia listed off on the side of her tablet with a pen as she read the information about her new bodyguard.  _Huh,_ Amelia hummed before she thought as she had her share of a deceased-almost-spouse,  _maybe we aren't that different._

The Mansfield woman then clicked onto a different link before she continued to read and added another note to the Stark device, _he has a one year old son named Reginald. He lives with his grandmother in Estonia for protection. The mother, Petra Hansen, double crossed him for information to give to the Norwegian Intelligence Agency. Joseph moved to the United States and joined the CIA after he killed the double agent for trying to expose S.I.S. secrets._ Amelia silently nodded her head as she read more into Joey's personal and profession history before she clicked onto another link and added a small note,  _he offers his protection services as well as working with the American government. Mr. Russell's clientele has been important people across the world ~ prime minsters, presidents, royal families, mobsters, etc._

Amelia then went to hack into the CIA database to see what cases her new bodyguard had worked on and to see who he has worked with previously. However, though, before the defense attorney could enter the secret entrance for CIA agents, she was interrupted when the Impala suddenly came to a stop before Joey told the Mansfield woman in a mumble, "here we are."

Amelia glanced outside the window from the light that shined on her Stark tablet before she saw that they were in fact right in front of the old building that held the newly built company of M.M.N. Associates. The Mansfield woman released a silent sigh as she locked her tablet as she knew that she had to quit her research for now.  _It was just getting interesting,_ Amelia pouted to herself as she was very intrigued about the man in the drivers seat. However, Amelia knew that she had to go upstairs, so she slipped her tablet back into her leather purse before she exited out of the Impala.

Once the defense attorney was standing outside the dark street of Hell's Kitchen, Amelia fixed the strap of her bag on her off-white coat before she faced her bodyguard, who was exiting out of the old school vehicle. "You can leave," the Mansfield lawyer told Joey with a raised eyebrow as she didn't see why she would need a bodyguard when she would be in the office until she walked home that wasn't really far away. 

The CIA agent immediately shook his head as he locked up his car before he walked after Amelia, who was walking towards the entrance of the building. "My job is to keep you safe and I cannot do that if I can't see you," Joey explained to the difficult lawyer about the reason why he wasn't going to leave like she had asked. 

Amelia let out a heavy groan and rolled her green eyes before she swiftly faced the bodyguard with annoyance shining across her face. The Mansfield woman stared at Joey for a few tense moments before she curiously wondered, "when the hell do you sleep then?" Amelia honestly was confused about this whole bodyguard thing since it seemed like Joey didn't plan on giving her any privacy at all.

"Once I know you are secured inside of your apartment is when I will leave like Tony instructed me to do so," Joey answered the brunette woman's question. "I will be alerted to when your door is used with the thumb print, so I will know when to meet you and that is how it will go for now on," the bodyguard added as he opened the front door of the old building for Amelia with a small smile.

The Mansfield woman rolled her eyes, once again, while she mentally cursed Tony Stark for going through all this just to keep her safe. It wasn't like she couldn't protect herself, so it just annoyed her that she was going to have a shadow constantly following her. However, if she knew Tony Stark, then she knew that she wasn't going to be able to get rid of Joey anytime soon, so Amelia released a heavy sigh before she mumbled, "fine."

The lawyer and the CIA agent then silently walked into the old building once they were in agreement before they rode up the elevator. Amelia watched the numbers tick away but when there was only one floor left until they would reach M.M.N Associates, the Mansfield woman turned to the side, so she was staring up at Joey. The defense attorney then pointed at the tall man before she told him, "my friends don't need to know that I have a bodyguard, so for now on you are an old friend from London that decided to move to New York."

The sound of the elevator stopping rung throughout the small metal box before Joey gave his client a small nod and simply told her, "yes, ma'am." The CIA agent knew that it was best to keep it a secret that he was a bodyguard for the brunette woman since it would just draw more attention to Amelia and they all didn't need that.

Amelia shot the man a glare at the way he addressed like she was an old woman before she rolled her green eyes when she noticed the smirk playing on his lips. "Shut it," the Mansfield woman muttered with annoyance before she walked down to the door that was labeled for M.M.N. Associates and walked inside with her lovely bodyguard following closely behind. 

The Mansfield woman glanced around the waiting room of her and her friends' business before she heard voices coming from the break room that just has a small table and a couple of chairs. Amelia figured that is where her best friends were located, so she walked into the room before she quickly apologized, "I am so sorry I'm late." The lawyer then lifted up the plastic bag from Fairway Market before she exclaimed, "but I brought lots of coffee."

The Nelson lawyer's eyes immediately widened when he saw the bag of caffeinated goodness before he swiftly jumped from his seat and grabbed the plastic bag. "You are a Godsend," Foggy praised and placed a quick and friendly kiss to Amelia's temple before he took the bag and brought it over to the coffee machine.

Amelia chuckled at her long haired friend before she looked over to Matt, who was twitching his head to the side. "Oh!" The brunette woman exclaimed as she realized why Matt was doing that before she told her two fellow lawyers, "guys, this is my friend, Joseph, from England. He's going to be staying in New York for a while, so I was showing him around."

The Murdock man's shoulders slightly relaxed once he knew who was in the room before a small smile pulled up onto his lips. "It's nice to meet you, Joseph," the blind lawyer commented as he looked in the direction of his best friend's voice.

"You must have the best patience in the world if you went looking around New York with this one," Foggy joked as he passed between the suited man and his close friend before he walked back to the small table with a fresh cup of coffee cradled in his hands. 

Amelia rolled her green eyes at her best friend's jab towards her and muttered, "oh, shut it, Franklin." The Mansfield woman then went to open her mouth to ask if they finished the rest of the paperwork for their first client. However, before she could even get the question out of her mouth, their aforementioned client walked into the room with a metal tray in her hands.

"Oh!" Karen gaped when she noticed the missing lawyer. The blonde woman then quickly composed herself and shot Amelia a bright grin before she told her, "it's nice to see you again, Amelia." The innocent blonde shook the tray in her hand before she explained why she was at the office this late, "I wanted to thank you guys for all that you've done for me."

Amelia gave the blonde woman a polite smile and uttered, "that's very kind of you." The Mansfield lawyer then watched as Karen walked towards the small break room table and towards her two best friends, where Amelia finally noticed that the small table was actually set up for dinner with paper plates, plastic silverware, and coffee cups. 

"Hey," the Russell bodyguard quietly whispered to Amelia with a light touch to her shoulder to gain her attention while the other people in the room were distracted for the moment. "I'll be outside until you're ready to leave," Joey told his client since he could tell that there was no danger for Amelia to be alone with her friends in their workplace.

The Mansfield lawyer nodded her head with a thankful smile as she was glad that she was going to actually be able to relax with her best friends and their nice client that Amelia had grown to like. Amelia then watched as Joey silently took his exit before she finally walked into the break room, where she immediately smelled something delicious. The brunette woman took her seat next to both of Matt and Foggy before she glanced into the tray that Karen was setting on the table and noticed what she had brought. "Ooh, il mio preferito,"  _[Ooh, my favorite.]_  Amelia commented in Italian when she saw it was eggplant parmesan. 

Matt and Foggy both looked over in Amelia's direction when they heard their best friend speak a language other than English. "You know Italian, too?" The Murdock man curiously wondered while the Nelson man asked in disbelief, "what don't we know about you?" The Nelson lawyer felt they were learning all new things about their associate like when they found out that Amelia had been in the Marines.

Amelia shrugged her shoulders as she was indifferent before she took off her warm coat. "I took it when I was high school and it just always stuck," the Mansfield woman told her best friends. Amelia hadn't exactly told the truth, though. She did take Italian in high school but that wasn't the reason for why she is fluent in Italian. If they knew her real last name; D'Antoni, they would understand that she was a descendant from an Italian family. 

The break room grew silent after that as Foggy and Matt realized that it made sense for why Amelia could speak Italian like they could understand a little bit of Spanish from their own high school education. The silence then was broken when the blonde woman grabbed a plastic spatula and told the group of lawyers, "so, I know it's not much in the way of repayment but it is, um, my grandmother's recipe." Karen let out a small chuckle as she began to place a heavy portion of eggplant parmesan on each plate before she uttered, "and she made me promise only to serve it to my future husband."

The group of lawyers all let out a set of small chuckles at the blonde woman's explanation of her repayment in food before Karen awkwardly scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment to her confession and mumbled what her grandmother would always tell her, "you know, it's like, filled with virtue or something."

A large and amused grin lifted onto the Murdock man's lips before he teased the blonde woman as he leaned over the small table and down to his plate of food to smell the meal, "I thought I detected a whiff of virtue in there."

Amelia shook her head at her best friend before she shot Karen a bright smile. "What he means to say is that we are very grateful for this meal and it was our pleasure to help out your case," the Mansfield lawyer told the blushing blonde. Amelia was really starting to like Karen as she brought one of the meals Amelia's mother used to make before she died. It was like Amelia was back in Long Island and in her childhood years.

"Not that I'm complaining," the Nelson lawyer mumbled with a mouth full of delicious Italian food before he wiped the edge of his lips and turned his attention onto Karen. "But you really should be thanking the nut in the mask," Foggy told their past client as he recalled last night when the guy in the mask had turned the men that were trying to kill Karen over to the New York Bulletin along with the flash drive that proved Karen's innocence in the murder of Daniel Fisher. 

A small frown lifted onto the Page woman's pale lips before she shook her head as she disagreed with Foggy. "He's not a nut," Karen mumbled as she defended the man that had saved her. The blonde woman then lightly shrugged her shoulders when the lawyers only stared at her before she uttered, "I mean, he's a little weird, maybe."

"Well, we're just glad you're okay," the Murdock lawyer told Karen with a kind smile before she could continue with her rambling about the man in the mask. Matt would rather move as far away from that topic as possible as he didn't need anyone, especially his friends, to figure out who really is under the mask.

"Hear, hear!" The Nelson man loudly exclaimed as he swiftly popped the cork off of the five dollar bottle of red wine that he got from the convenient store that was at the end of the street before he began to pour the blood colored liquid into the four empty coffee cups to go with their dinner.

Karen shot the defense attorneys a thankful smile before she murmured as she began to cut through the crunchy outer layer of the crusted eggplant, "if it weren't for the three of you, I'd still be in that cell." The Page woman could still feel that chill running down her body from those itchy clothes and the uncomfortable bed at the police station.

"Oh, please," Amelia exclaimed as she lightly waved her hand and took a sip of her wine. "We wouldn't have left you in there any longer when we knew the truth about the case," the Mansfield woman told Karen with a friendly smile before she added, "we knew you were innocent all along, so we just did what was right."

"Amy's right," the Murdock man mumbled with a nod of his head as he agreed with the brunette woman before he stated, "job's easy when your client's innocent." Matt then shot a smile in the blonde woman's direction to calm Karen's fast heart rate and nerves before he softly concluded, "all you did was tell the truth."

Karen looked directly across at the man beside her with the dark sunglasses with a brighter and calmer smile before she murmured, "yeah, but you listened." The Page woman felt like she was indebted to the three lawyers as she had imagined that she would spend the rest of her life behind bars or even dead by how many people were out to get her and that flash drive. 

The three lawyers and the newly innocent woman began to eat in a comfortable silence with their plastic silverware and the fantastic Italian food before a thought suddenly popped into the long haired man's mind. "Oh," Foggy gaped before he pointed at Karen with his fork and told her with an easy smile, "don't get us wrong, but we're still gonna bill you." The Nelson man then glanced over to Amelia with a wide grin before he told the blonde woman, "just as soon as we figure out how to make bills."

Amelia couldn't help but roll her green eyes at the long haired man before she told him with a small chuckle, "oh, you are so unprepared for life." The Mansfield woman knew Foggy was only half serious as that was just his personality since she had taught him how to make bills and send documents during the first week after they graduated from Columbia Law School. 

Karen quickly covered her mouth with her hand so she wouldn't spit out her food as she giggled at the two lawyers and obvious friends before she glanced around the room while she finished chewing her food. "I did notice that you could use some help around here," the Page woman politely commented to not offend the lawyers. Karen then anxiously played with her fingers before she quietly offered, "and I owe you guys, so maybe I could clean the place up a bit."

_That's not a bad offer,_ Amelia thought as she stared at the blonde woman. It wasn't like she could keep taking all the furniture that Tony keeps sending her since it would be suspicious to why they had thousands of dollars worth of furniture in a cheap building in Hell's Kitchen. Amelia also couldn't accept anymore of Tony's help like with the moving company to fix up the place. It would be better for them to do it themselves and it would be a lot of help if Karen was willing to pitch in as a payment for their services.

The Murdock lawyer glanced around M.M.N. Associates, even though he couldn't exactly see besides shapes, with his brows furrowed underneath his dark sunglasses before he faced Karen. "Is this place messy?" Matt curiously wondered with the twitch of his head and a hint of confusion and humor in his voice.

The four adults couldn't help but let out small laughs at the teasing from Matt before the long haired man immediately turned serious and pointed his plastic knife at the blonde woman. "Our firm is very prestigious and discerning, Miss Page," Foggy told their now ex-client before he swallowed another bite of eggplant before he inquired in his professional voice, "do you have any prior experience hiding electrical cords up in ceiling tiles?"

Karen nervously bit down on her pale pink bottom lip as she had no idea how to do that before she mumbled, "uh, no." However, when Foggy ended up cracking, she let out a small chuckle before she told the three lawyers as she knew it was what they wanted to hear by how their office space looked and the fact that she was their first and only client, "but I'll work for free."

The three lawyers ended up joining the blonde woman in laughing before Matt pointed his plastic fork at Karen like Foggy had done with his knife. "Yeah, you're hired!" The Murdock man swiftly exclaimed as that was their best deal and Karen was just like them. Karen Page didn't have anyone in her life that she could depend on and Matt knew he, Amelia, and Foggy could be that for her.

Foggy looked over to Amelia and shot her a wide and an excited grin before he told her, "it looks like we found our new assistant after all." The Nelson man had remembered the conversation that they had this afternoon about Amelia looking into someone coming in to help them, so Foggy was glad that Karen had offered along with the fact that she would do it for free. 

"It seems so," Amelia murmured with a small smile as she was happy that she wouldn't have to find someone to come help them as she didn't know when she would have the time. The Mansfield woman then silently faced the two other people at the table before she raised her glass of red wine and held it up to the middle of the table. "A toast," Amelia stated before the three other people pushed their coffee cups against hers before Amelia stared across at Karen and proposed, "a toast to you. Welcome to our small family, Karen."

The four adults clinked their coffee cups together before they all took a small sip of their red wine as they toasted to the newest employee of M.M.N Associates. "Thank you," Karen uttered as she was the first one to speak after they placed their cups back down onto the table. Karen then brushed her blonde hair behind her left ear before she expressed her gratitude, "I can't thank you guys enough for all the help and letting me stay." The Page woman shook her head with a sad smile as she murmured, "I-I don't have any family in New York, so t-thank you."

Amelia reached across the table and placed her hand lightly over the emotional Karen's before she softly uttered, "of course." She shot the blonde woman a wink before she teased which caused them to all break out into a happy and relaxed laughter, "well, you're stuck with us now."

The Mansfield woman knew right then and there that Karen was going to be the perfect fit in their ragtag group of lawyers. The Page woman was just lost, afraid, and didn't know where she belonged right now and Amelia could totally relate to how Karen was feeling. Amelia was just like that when she was forced to leave the Marines thanks to Vincent D'Antoni, her father, along with the fact that after she came home to Long Island, she found out that her father had her fiancee killed because D'Antoni soldiers don't fall in love which caused Amelia to hate and to not want to work for her father anymore. However, the final straw was when her father had sent her to Malibu, California to kill her now adopted brother; Tony Stark.


End file.
